Naruto: 10 Questions About Neji, Answered

In the Naruto franchise, Neji Hyuga might not have received the same level of attention as his cousin Hinata, but the character certainly left a mark on fans. Three years older than his cousin, Neji had more experience as a shinobi student before Naruto, Hinata, and the rest of their generation made it through the Shinobi Academy. 

He began his time in the franchise aggressively as someone who believed he couldn’t make his own destiny. Neji had one of the most interesting character arcs in the series, changing from a young man willing to destroy his own cousin because she insulted him to someone who would give his life to make sure she could keep fighting. He went out like a hero, but some fans still wish they could know more about him.

10 When Did Neji Advance To Chunin And Jonin Status

Right in the middle of the manga, just as in the anime series, there was a time skip. While Naruto was away for two years, the series moved into the Naruto Shippuden era. During that time, all of the Konoha 11 (save for Naruto and Sasuke, who were gone, and Shikamaru, who was already promoted) took their Chunin Exams again. 

During the exams, Team Guy (Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee) surprised viewers of the anime when they spent much of their time saving the lives of other people and helping other teams out of jams. They even went to help Gaara when someone tried to extract his tailed beast. Neji was instrumental in saving Gaara, and it was that action that got him a promotion. While all of his peers became chunin, Lady Tsunade awarded Neji further, promoting him again to jonin, making him outrank even Shikamaru at that point in the series.

9 What Is His Blood Type

One thing fans will find a lot of in Japanese pop culture is the listing of blood types for popular characters and celebrities. That’s because there exists a personality theory in Japan surrounding blood type. The idea is that a person’s blood type can influence their personality traits. According to Naruto databooks, Neji’s blood type is type O.

Theories indicate that people with type O blood are confident, ambitious, and competitive. They’re also spiteful, arrogant, and easily jealous. All of those traits are easy to see in play when Neji takes his anger out on Hinata and her father because of his own father’s death. Neji shares this blood type with Asuma, Temari, and Sakura, amongst others.

8 Does Neji Like Spicy Food

With the Naruto databooks comes favorite (and least favorite) foods. Anime fans, however, don’t need the databooks to know if Neji can handle his spicy foods or not.

The anime series featured a lot of chances to try curry for Team Guy. Unfortunately for Neji, spicy curry didn’t agree with him. It wasn’t just too hot for him to handle; he frequently passed out after eating curry that was spicy.

7 How Does Neji Explain His Sacrifice To Naruto

While fans know that Neji sacrifices himself to save Hinata and Naruto during the Fourth Shinobi World War because it’s a sign of how much he’s changed since he was 15 years old, he gives Naruto a much simpler explanation. It’s one that shows his sense of humor, even as he leaves the world behind.

Naruto is shocked that Neji would take on the brunt of an attack aimed at him. In reality, Neji took the attack for Hinata while she tried to give Naruto coverage. When Naruto asks why, however, Neji reminds the other boy that once, Naruto called him a genius, and that’s reason enough for him to give his life.

6 What Is His Star Sign

If Naruto ever wanted to include information about Western Astrology, fans would learn that Neji’s July 3 birth date makes him a Cancer, also known as the crab. Cancers are believed to be a lot like the creature they’re named for – a hard exterior with a sensitive center.

Despite creating a hard personality, Cancers are intuitive and highly in tune with other people’s emotions. They’re excellent people readers, and also easily hurt. That would seem to make sense considering how jealous Neji was of Hinata’s place in the main Hyuga line, but also how quick he was to become protective and nurturing of her.

5 How Are Birds Important To Neji’s Story

It’s not entirely clear why Neji loves a good bird metaphor so much, but he definitely did. When talking about his own destiny, Neji often used birds to make his point.

He thought of himself as a caged bird because of his place in the branch house of the Hyuga family, but he seemed to change his mind after Naruto beat him during their first Chunin Exams. He talked about “birds flying freely” then as he began to think he could make his own destiny. In the manga, the Allied Forces around him even took on the formation of a bird in their fight following his death in the war.

4 How Many Naruto Movies Is He In

Like many of the Naruto characters not a part of the title character’s core team, Neji didn’t get a ton of appearances in the Naruto movies. He appeared in five of the eleven movies made in the franchise.

Neji’s roles in Road To Ninja: Naruto The Movie, Naruto Shippuden The Movie: Bonds,  and Naruto The Movie: Blood Prison were essentially cameos that allowed him to use some of his abilities to save a handful of people. He had larger roles in Naruto Shippuden The Movie: The Will Of Fire and in Naruto Shippuden The Movie. In the former, all of the members of the Konoha 11 played a role in Naruto’s plan to rescue Kakashi from a fatal fate. In the latter, Neji was actually the team leader for Naruto, Sakura, and Lee on a mission to protect a priestess.

3 How Many Official Missions Did Neji Complete

Though Neji wasn’t in the franchise for its entire run, he did have more official missions under his belt than a lot of other characters. He completed 62 total according to the data books. Interestingly, that’s one more mission than his teammates Tenten and Lee as well.

He completed 26 of the easiest type of mission, D-Rank, 19 of the more difficult C-Rank, four B-Rank, and 11 of the missions typically for jonin, A-Rank. Neji also, unlike a lot of the other members of the Konoha 11, completed two missions considered S-Rank, those reserved for the most elite of shinobi. One of those was likely completed with his teammates since Tenten and Lee both have a single S-Rank mission in their stats as well.

2 What Does His Name Mean

The word “Neji” translates to “screw” in English. It’s the same verb that means “to twist or wrench.” Fans believe there’s a double meaning to the name.

On the one hand, it’s a nod to his advanced fighting style: Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven. On the other, it could also be a reference to the word “nejia,” which is a Chinese martial art. This particular form focuses on internal work and focusing the chi, but it does it by twisting and spinning the body. Neji’s surname, “Hyuga” means “a place in the sun” which gets a nod in his cousin and her daughter’s names as Hinata and Himawari both reference sunflowers.

1 How Is Neji Honored In The Boruto Series

Though Neji’s death occurred long before the events of the Boruto series take place, like Konohamaru Sarutobi, he did get a bit more of a spotlight in the anime recently. When Boruto and Sasuke traveled through time, Boruto got to meet his uncle as a teenager, but the franchise honored Neji long before they interacted.

Boruto’s name translates to “bolt,” as in the piece of hardware used in the same manner as a screw. Creator Masashi Kishimoto wanted Boruto’s name to reflect Neji’s since Boruto is the embodiment of Hinata and Naruto ending up together, but it was Neji’s sacrifice that made it possible.

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