In the Naruto universe, Neji Hyuuga may not get the same portion of appearance as his cousin Hinata, but his character certainly leaves a deep impression on fans. Three years older than his cousin, Neji has more experience as a shinobi than Naruto, Hinata, and the rest of the generation within the Konoha Academy.

He initially appears in the Naruto universe aggressively as someone who believes he cannot make his own destiny. Neji is one of the most interesting character developments in the series. He changed from a young man who treated his cousin indifferently to someone who would sacrifice his life to ensure Hinata could continue to fight for the Hyuuga clan. Who is Neji Hyuuga? Here are the 15 facts about the Byakugan expert!

1. The Meaning of Neji’s Name

The word "Neji" literally means "screw". The word “Neji” is a verb meaning “to turn or wrench.” Fans of the Naruto series believe there is a double meaning of the name.

In a way, the word referred to his advanced fighting style which was 8 Trigram Palms Revolving Heaven. On the other hand, it can also refer to the word “nejia”, which is a Chinese martial art. This martial art focuses on the body's internal activities and focuses on chi energy, but nejia users do it by rotating the body. Neji's surname, "Hyuuga" means "place under the sun" which refers to the names Hinata and Himawari as they both relate to the meaning of sunflower.

2.  Neji is Respected in Boruto

Although Neji Hyuuga's death occurred long before the Boruto series, Neji gets a lot of attention in Boruto. When Boruto and Sasuke time travel, Boruto must meet his uncle as a teenager. In addition, the concept of Boruto paid homage to Neji long before Boruto and Neji interacted.

The name Boruto is the Japanese pronunciation of the word Bolt which translates to "bolt," an object that is used in the same way as a screw in that it is turned. Masashi Kishimoto wants the name Boruto to reflect Neji's name because Boruto is the embodiment of Hinata and Naruto who can finally live together because of Neji's sacrifice.

3. Tsunade Promotes Neji to Jounin

Right in the middle of the manga and anime there is a time skip when Naruto left Konoha for two years, and then the series enters the Naruto Shippuden era. During the time skip, all of the Konoha 11 members took their Chunin Exams again, except for Naruto and Sasuke who had left Konoha, and Shikamaru who had been promoted.

During the exam, Team Guy, namely Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee saved many lives and helped other teams solve problems. Team Guy even helped Gaara when someone tried to take out his tailed beast. Neji was instrumental in rescuing Gaara, and it was this action that earned him a promotion. When all of his teammates were still chunin, Tsunade promoted Neji to jounin. The promotion made him surpass Shikamaru at the time.

4. Blood Type O

One thing that is common in Japanese pop culture is blood type lists for popular anime characters and celebrities. This is because there is a theory of personality in Japan related to blood type. The theory is that a person's blood type can affect their personality traits as well. According to the Naruto databook, Neji Hyuuga's blood type is type O.

Theories suggest that people with blood type O are confident, ambitious, and competitive. They are also vindictive, arrogant, and easily jealous. All of these traits are easily seen when Neji vents his anger on Hinata and her father for the death of his father. Besides Neji, the owner of this blood type O is Asuma, Temari, and Sakura.

5. Dislike Spicy Food

Naruto databook also revealed the characters' favorite foods and foods that are least liked as well. Fans of the anime do not need to read the data book to find out whether Neji can eat spicy food or not.

The anime features shinobi from Team Guy eating spicy curry. Unfortunately, Neji was helpless when he had to eat the spicy curry. He would often pass out after eating spicy curry, luckily Tenten helped him.

6. Sacrificed His Life for Naruto and Hinata

The incident of Neji Hyuuga sacrificing himself to save Hinata and Naruto during the Fourth Shinobi War was an indication that Neji had changed. He also gave Naruto a much simpler explanation. It turned out that Neji showed his sense of humor, even on his dying breath.

Naruto was surprised that Neji would protect him. In reality, Neji was hit by an attack aimed at Hinata when she was helping Naruto. When Naruto asked why Neji did that, Neji reminded Naruto who had called him a genius, and that turned out to be the reason for Neji to sacrifice his life for Naruto.

7. His Zodiac Sign is Cancer

If Naruto wants to include information about western Astrology or the Zodiac, fans will know that Neji's birth date is July 3 which makes him a Cancer. Cancer is believed to be very similar to Neji, who is tough on the outside with a sensitive inside.

Despite creating a tough personality, Cancers are very intuitive and very in tune with other people's emotions. They are readers of other people's characters and also easily hurt. It seemed reasonable considering how jealous Neji was of Hinata's place in the Hyuuga clan's mainline, but also how quickly he became protective and nurturing Hinata.

Also Read:

• Revealed! These Six Shinobi Clans Are The Direct Descendants of Kaguya Otsutsuki!
• Top 8 Boruto’s Biggest Fans, Already Famous Since Young!
• 6 Facts About Naruto vs. Sasuke Duel, a Rivalry Worth Watching!

8. Likened to a Bird Flying Free

It's not entirely clear why Neji Hyuuga liked the bird metaphor so much. When describing his own destiny, Neji often uses the term bird to convey his meaning.

He thought of himself as a caged bird because of his place in the Hyuuga branch family, but he seemed to change his mind after Naruto defeated during the Chunin Exams. He talks about free-flying birds when he begins to think he can make his own destiny. In the manga, the Ninja Troops around Neji even took on a bird formation in their fight after Neji's death.

9. Appeared in 5 Naruto Films

Like many characters who are not part of the core team, Neji Hyuga doesn't get many appearances in the Naruto films. He appeared in five of the eleven films made in the Naruto franchise.

Neji's roles in Road To Ninja: Naruto The Movie, Naruto Shippuden The Movie: Bonds, and Naruto The Movie: Blood Prison are brilliant performances that allow him to use some of his abilities to save others. He had bigger roles in Naruto Shippuden The Movie: The Will Of Fire and in Naruto Shippuden The Movie. In the past, all members of Konoha 11 played a part in Naruto's plan to save Kakashi from a fatal situation. In the latter film, Neji is actually the team leader for Naruto, Sakura, and Lee on a mission to protect a priest.

10. Neji Had Completed 62 Official Missions

Despite his short life, he accomplished more official missions than many other characters. He completed 62 missions according to the data book. Interestingly, Neji completed more missions than his teammates Tenten and Rock Lee.

Neji completed 26 of the easiest D-Rank mission types, 19 of the more difficult C-Rank, 4 B-Rank, and 11 missions usually assigned to jonin, namely A-Rank. Neji is also unlike most other Konoha 11 members because he can complete 2 missions that are considered S-Rank reserved for the most elite shinobi. One of them was probably completed with his teammates since Tenten and Lee had S-Rank mission records as well in their stats.

11. Neji Had A Weird Relationship with Hanabi

Although his relationship with Hinata is fine, Neji Hyuuga's relationship with Hanabi is very strange because they both know what kind of future Hanabi will see. Hanabi sees in Neji and his curse marks and past behavior are similar to Hanabi's. Neji also saw that Neji's life history would repeat itself and Hanabi would experience it.

Hanabi really fights for the right to be the heir to her father. Neji can see a family relationship full of competition also from Hanabi and Hinata. Even if Hinata didn't fight as hard as Hanabi did, Neji could see Hanabi's potential to be as jealous as she was because they were born to the branch family. Neji also tried to secretly keep Hanabi from the worst because it was not worth living.

12. Mentored by Mighty Guy 

Mighty Guy is the most annoying teacher, but Neji Hyuga has to admit that he is also one of the strongest people he knows. Guy is also one of the brightest ninjas, despite his poor memory and tendency to flaunt the obvious.

At first, Neji rejected Guy's teachings, because Neji was a hateful character at the beginning. When he had forgotten his grudge he was grateful that Guy never gave up on him, even when he was being rude.

13. Neji Initially Hates Rock Lee

Neji Hyuuga hated Rock Lee at first. He thought Lee was pathetic. As time went on, Lee would undoubtedly become Neji's best friend, and he would be ready to die to protect Lee. He would rather die than see Lee hurt again.

14. Consider Tenten an Angel

Neji Hyuuga thinks Tenten is like an angel who can face the odd-ball duo Guy and Lee every day, because Tenten has more patience for Guy and Lee than Neji. Tenten also has to deal with Neji who is often gloomy. That's why Neji considers Tenten like a saint or an angel, and Neji feels blessed by her presence.

15. Hated the Cursed Seal

Neji Hyuuga always covers his cursed seal. Even though Neji no longer hates it in the end, he learns to live with the seal, but he still doesn't like it. He didn't want to see the cursed seal.

Those are the 15 facts about Neji Huuga, the Byakugan expert. Do you think there are other Neji facts that haven't been discussed here? You can share them in the comment section.

Stay tuned to Dunia Games for more articles about anime and games. Don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram. 

You can also purchase game vouchers for Mobile Legends, Free Fire, Call of Duty Mobile, and many more with interesting deals only on Dunia Games.

Also Read >>> 14 Facts About Rinnegan, Sasuke Uchiha’s Lost Ability in Boruto