Rock Lee vs Neji

[streugut]

I don't think he would manage to beat the Byakugan.

[Artorious8]

Rock Lee totally would have won at the time. He could open the fifth gate and even if Neji could see the attack coming he didnt have his ultimate defense so he would have got his butt kicked

[khashaya]

I like lee more than neji, but to be honest, i have to say neji wins

[zulfarid]

Lee would win hands and feet down, with all gates opened....ha

[Princexero]

I agree with the second post and now Lee would have to get by Neji's rotation and his 8-triagrams

[rebelkid24]

They are both some of my favorite characters on Naruto, but I'd have to say, sadly, that Neji would probably have won, which is sad because I want Rock Lee to win haha

[Nero D. Ace]

Okay, I just saw the results and I am shocked to say the least.

I guess this just goes to show that in the Naruto universe, popularity and fanboyism trumps logic and all facts given by the storyteller himself -

1) Let's recap something, shall we? During the Genin exams, Tenten comments that Neji's Rotation technique actually surpasses Gaara's ultimate defence. I don't care how strong Lee might have gotten. Once Nejo starts Rotating, Lee's punch/kick/headbutt will stop dead in it's track and leave him wide open for the 8 Trigrams.

2) Neji is a tactics guy like Shikamaru while Lee is basically a rush-in guy like Naruto. Let's face it, during the Sasuke Retrieval Arc, only two Genin from the Leaf were actually able to beat their opponents - Neji and Choji. And they were both out-jutsu'd so they ended up having to strategize and play on the enemy's over-confidence. What would Lee have done? Open up the Bazillionth Gate and burnt his body up? Again?

3) Neji was the first to be made a Jonin. JONIN. That's the same level as Kakashi and Guy. Rank may not mean much but it just goes to show that the guy had talent and skill, which got him promoted at an extremely young age.

4) Neji is NOT the same as Sasuke. If anything, he's the opposite. Sasuke was given everything. Neji, on the other hand had more talent than anyone in his family and he had to watch his bumble-head of a cousin goof up on every single technique that he could easily do and still have to bow before that.

I'd say that's even harder than not being able to make a Shadow Clone or doing any type of Nin or Gen Jutsu.

5) Lee has never won. Sure, he puts up some good fights but when has Lee EVER won a fight?

Fight against Gaara - LOSS and crippled

Fight against Kimimaro - LOSS and rescued by the one who beat him up the first time

If we're talking a full-out ninja battle to see which one is stronger, Neji wins.

Why? Because in addition to his own taijutsu, he can seal chakra points and be aware of a sneak attack with his Byakugan. Lee, on the other hand can throw a bunch of fancy punches and kicks ... and that's it. That's all he can do.

Unless some kind of EMP jutsu bomb comes up later in the story, I don't see any scenario in which Lee can beat Neji, unless it's a curry eating contest.

[aifonfabre]

rock lee of course

[lemmingllama]

@iki Just to show some of your points as true or not. First off is that his rotation is an ultimate defense. We actually see in his fight with Naruto that brute force can and will break through. Also, it takes time before and after to initiate the rotation. Lees punches when he was fighting Gaara were so fast that even Kekashi had difficulty following his moves. So Neji would be unable to determine exactly when to rotate and by the time he did start, he would be hit.

Now, lets look at lee losing all of his fights, shall we? The first was against Sasuke, which he easily won. The second was against Dosu, where he was stupid and got taken out. All due to stupidity, not skill... The third was against Gaara, who was as powerful as a jounin at the time. A jounin, which took Neji another how many years to achieve. And Lee was beating Gaara up. So Lee was about as strong, making him jounin level too! Aka stronger than Neji at that time. Finally theres Kimmimaru, the man who fought with Orochimaru and killed the Kazekage. Do you honestly think that a genin should be able to beat him, no matter how crippled and sick he is? He would be at least on par with Shippuden Sasuke before his illness. And Lee did push him back and have an advantage for awhile. So he did well all in all.

[Koby]

@iki Just to show some of your points as true or not. First off is that his rotation is an ultimate defense. We actually see in his fight with Naruto that brute force can and will break through. Also, it takes time before and after to initiate the rotation. Lees punches when he was fighting Gaara were so fast that even Kekashi had difficulty following his moves. So Neji would be unable to determine exactly when to rotate and by the time he did start, he would be hit.

Now, lets look at lee losing all of his fights, shall we? The first was against Sasuke, which he easily won. The second was against Dosu, where he was stupid and got taken out. All due to stupidity, not skill... The third was against Gaara, who was as powerful as a jounin at the time. A jounin, which took Neji another how many years to achieve. And Lee was beating Gaara up. So Lee was about as strong, making him jounin level too! Aka stronger than Neji at that time. Finally theres Kimmimaru, the man who fought with Orochimaru and killed the Kazekage. Do you honestly think that a genin should be able to beat him, no matter how crippled and sick he is? He would be at least on par with Shippuden Sasuke before his illness. And Lee did push him back and have an advantage for awhile. So he did well all in all.

I had to comment on this because I was laughing at how off the entire post was.

First, I don't remember who Dosu is that you mention. Gaara was NOT at Jounin level. He was no where near that. Lee also stated Neji was better at him and he strives to one day surpass him. So again you are wrong. Then about Kimmimaru, HAHAHA OMG this was hilarious! There is no way in hell he could have ever been as OMG HAX powerful as Sasuke has become in Shippuuden. Seriously the only other guy to compare to Sasuke would be Naruto and whoever the hell Tobi might be. Also sickness takes a huge toll on someone. Even if he had been Hokage level (which I doubt he ever was), a lowly genin could possibly beat a bed ridden guy having to use chakra to do simple things such as to move his arm. He simply wouldn't be able to keep up.

[Zelkova]

I had to comment on this because I was laughing at how off the entire post was.

First, I don't remember who Dosu is that you mention. Gaara was NOT at Jounin level. He was no where near that. Lee also stated Neji was better at him and he strives to one day surpass him. So again you are wrong. Then about Kimmimaru, HAHAHA OMG this was hilarious! There is no way in hell he could have ever been as OMG HAX powerful as Sasuke has become in Shippuuden. Seriously the only other guy to compare to Sasuke would be Naruto and whoever the hell Tobi might be. Also sickness takes a huge toll on someone. Even if he had been Hokage level (which I doubt he ever was), a lowly genin could possibly beat a bed ridden guy having to use chakra to do simple things such as to move his arm. He simply wouldn't be able to keep up.

Tobi is the final Uchiha, the real villain in the series, the real leader of Akatsuki and one of the strongest people out there. He can easily handle a tailed beast. He held his own against the First Hokage (he is really that old). He is stronger than Sasuke and Naruto (unconfirmed but it is assumed as Sasuke does not follow those who are weaker than him).

Gaara wasn't at Jounin level but to be technical Gaara could've been considered Jounin level because of the Tailed Beast. He would've had to go through the tournament to be considered a Jounin either way.

Lee always stated Neji was stronger than him and wanted to one day beat him but Neji has also admitted that Lee was better than him too. Its really a hard situation there. Lee's fight versus Kimmimaru was not a fair fight as Lee was still in recovery so he couldn't do much as he stated himself he was still pretty bad. If you remember he actually wasn't allowed to retrain until the next day but he wound up rushing off to fight Kimmimaru. Also the fact of the matter is Kimmimaru was 3x stronger than the opponent Neji faced. He also had a Kekkei-Genkai. This put him at a superior advantage. Neji's ability to stop Chakra flow wouldn't have worked against Kimmimaru and even getting close to him would've been dangerous as his bones would've protected him. Neji's Ultimate Defense would've useless against the bones as his defense isn't as powerful as a fully recovered kick from Rock Lee. So Neji would've lost horribly against him merely he would've just been defense full way through. Kekkei-Genkai's can't be shut off by Neji's ability to stop Chakra Flow so yeah.

[shubham121]

rock lee would have won after a close battle since he was not able to beat him earlier but after openings the gates he would be able to defeat him easily.

[Zelkova]

Depends on different things. We know how much damage on the body the 3rd gate does to him but what about the 5th gate that would just be deadly I'd imagine?

[Koby]

Tobi is the final Uchiha, the real villain in the series, the real leader of Akatsuki and one of the strongest people out there.

Final? What the heck is that suppose to mean? Anyhow it is NOT confirmed who Tobi is. He possibly isn't even an Uchiha at all. Besides what does this have to do with Rock Lee vs. Neji?

Besides this, Naruto is currently beating up Tobi in the manga from what I hear.

Gaara wasn't at Jounin level but to be technical Gaara could've been considered Jounin level because of the Tailed Beast. He would've had to go through the tournament to be considered a Jounin either way.

Sorry but no. Having a tailed beast does not equal being Jounin level.

Lee's fight versus Kimmimaru was not a fair fight as Lee was still in recovery so he couldn't do much as he stated himself he was still pretty bad. If you remember he actually wasn't allowed to retrain until the next day but he wound up rushing off to fight Kimmimaru. Also the fact of the matter is Kimmimaru was 3x stronger than the opponent Neji faced. He also had a Kekkei-Genkai. This put him at a superior advantage. Neji's ability to stop Chakra flow wouldn't have worked against Kimmimaru and even getting close to him would've been dangerous as his bones would've protected him. Neji's Ultimate Defense would've useless against the bones as his defense isn't as powerful as a fully recovered kick from Rock Lee. So Neji would've lost horribly against him merely he would've just been defense full way through. Kekkei-Genkai's can't be shut off by Neji's ability to stop Chakra Flow so yeah.

You're wrong on this. Neji might not be able to prevent a Kekkai Genkai but he could still stop chakra flow and without chakra flow Kimmimaru wouldn't be able to move his limbs regardless of whether or not he could still pull bones out of his body. Neji would have owned Kimmimaru without much of a fight.

Also you're just making stuff up now by trying to say he's 3x more powerful. This was never shown.

[lemmingllama]

I had to comment on this because I was laughing at how off the entire post was.

First, I don't remember who Dosu is that you mention. Gaara was NOT at Jounin level. He was no where near that. Lee also stated Neji was better at him and he strives to one day surpass him. So again you are wrong. Then about Kimmimaru, HAHAHA OMG this was hilarious! There is no way in hell he could have ever been as OMG HAX powerful as Sasuke has become in Shippuuden. Seriously the only other guy to compare to Sasuke would be Naruto and whoever the hell Tobi might be. Also sickness takes a huge toll on someone. Even if he had been Hokage level (which I doubt he ever was), a lowly genin could possibly beat a bed ridden guy having to use chakra to do simple things such as to move his arm. He simply wouldn't be able to keep up.

Dosu is the sound guy. And since gaara took on missions that were above his caliber, jounin caliber to be precise, we can at least assume that he was chuunin level. Plus the fact that he was at a young age able to kill multiple assassins, which would be jounin level. Lee does say that Neji was better than him, but also Lee has never fought Neji even without leg weights. So would Neji still dominate him if he used all of his techniques unhindered? And lastly, since Kimmimaru is at least Kage level before being bedridden(killed the Kazekage) and was able to fight at the level he did with almost no life left, ravaged by sickness, and was able to do it all with precise chakra control. So that means that he has better chakra control that Rasengan users and a Kekke-genkai that Orochimaru wanted more than the Sharingan.

[shyguysteve]

If people really noticed the small details of their fights in part 1 and 2, their initial fight would be a wash.

In part one rock lee shows us some of the most interesting fights even in the fillers, mainly because he just doesn't give up.

Neji has always waited until he had a full understanding of any situation before making a move, then he takes any advantage even turning a weakness into a counter.

The reason I say their fight would be a wash is because Lee himself fights with a handicap if he always has weights on, Neji even with his byakugan can only read and see chakra, weather this would be enough for him to get out of Lee's actual speed is debatable, even using his "rotation" because it eats a large amount of chakra to preform.

In part 1 Lee had a secret for neji, his opening of the gates, if they fought at that point in time when lee had less risk of injury from using it before; he would have crushed neji. But because he didn't makes it null.

Neji might be fast with his hands at a close distance in parts 1 and 2 but lee is more agile and over all faster from short and long distances, I don't know how the effects of turning someones chakra points off would do, but it doesn't mean that person can no longer move, it just means you have no jutsu. Lee has none, and it has yet to be told that Lee use's chakra in his Tai jutsu all assumptions aside it has never been stated. So if neji does close all of Lee's chakra points it doesn't mean Lee couldn't still fight, if anything that would leave neji over confidant and lee would strike with raw bone crushing power.

Despite the general thought, lee isn't stupid; he has the mentality of goku when he first appears. He was always eager to fight with anyone who posed a challenge though when he returns to comment on sasukes fight with garaa he states that he doubts his skills to much to rely on one punch.

Neji and all his genius lost to naruto actually was some what not true, Neji just ran out of gas, and if naruto didn't have the kyuubi, neji would have won.

But that was part 1, where rock lee only fought 100% once, and so did neji. In part 2 they are both pushed aside and never fight to the max since.

[Koby]

The reason I say their fight would be a wash is because Lee himself fights with a handicap if he always has weights on, Neji even with his byakugan can only read and see chakra, weather this would be enough for him to get out of Lee's actual speed is debatable, even using his "rotation" because it eats a large amount of chakra to preform.

In part 1 Lee had a secret for neji, his opening of the gates, if they fought at that point in time when lee had less risk of injury from using it before; he would have crushed neji. But because he didn't makes it null.

Neji might be fast with his hands at a close distance in parts 1 and 2 but lee is more agile and over all faster from short and long distances, I don't know how the effects of turning someones chakra points off would do, but it doesn't mean that person can no longer move, it just means you have no jutsu. Lee has none, and it has yet to be told that Lee use's chakra in his Tai jutsu all assumptions aside it has never been stated. So if neji does close all of Lee's chakra points it doesn't mean Lee couldn't still fight, if anything that would leave neji over confidant and lee would strike with raw bone crushing power.

Well the opening of the gates (chakra gates to be precise) can and would be stopped if Neji was able to touch Lee. So in essence if Neji was able to keep up with Lee long enough to get a few hits in he could shut-off the gates and prevent Lee from opening them in the first place. People are assuming that Lee would simply be too fast for Neji, but what you don't take in to account is Neji's ultimate technique does hundreds of hits in a matter of like 10 seconds or less. To pull that off he'd definitely have to have some great speed as well. Just because he doesn't race around his opponents in his fights doesn't mean he is slow. I believe he would be capable of at least keeping up with Lee's movements before Lee opened any gates. Lets not forget that Neji's capabilities in Shippuuden haven't actually been shown either really and that he is the only one to have been promoted to Jounin.

[shyguysteve]

Well the opening of the gates (chakra gates to be precise) can and would be stopped if Neji was able to touch Lee. So in essence if Neji was able to keep up with Lee long enough to get a few hits in he could shut-off the gates and prevent Lee from opening them in the first place. People are assuming that Lee would simply be too fast for Neji, but what you don't take in to account is Neji's ultimate technique does hundreds of hits in a matter of like 10 seconds or less. To pull that off he'd definitely have to have some great speed as well. Just because he doesn't race around his opponents in his fights doesn't mean he is slow. I believe he would be capable of at least keeping up with Lee's movements before Lee opened any gates. Lets not forget that Neji's capabilities in Shippuuden haven't actually been shown either really and that he is the only one to have been promoted to Jounin.

That is true but I tend to lean into the opening of the gates a little to favorably. Since they have both matured; Neji is the only one to show any type of fighting growth with the "Air Palm" so to add to what your saying, Neji doesn't even need to keep up.

But again since Lee never shows us his full speed since fighting garaa it wouldn't be fair to assume he can't avoid the speed of Neji's palms.

I like debating I can go back and forth on almost anything, I was going to be a lawyer; I say this just because I don't feel like going back and forth, just so that if people read this; they should know that I can.

[Zelkova]

Well the opening of the gates (chakra gates to be precise) can and would be stopped if Neji was able to touch Lee. So in essence if Neji was able to keep up with Lee long enough to get a few hits in he could shut-off the gates and prevent Lee from opening them in the first place. People are assuming that Lee would simply be too fast for Neji, but what you don't take in to account is Neji's ultimate technique does hundreds of hits in a matter of like 10 seconds or less. To pull that off he'd definitely have to have some great speed as well. Just because he doesn't race around his opponents in his fights doesn't mean he is slow. I believe he would be capable of at least keeping up with Lee's movements before Lee opened any gates. Lets not forget that Neji's capabilities in Shippuuden haven't actually been shown either really and that he is the only one to have been promoted to Jounin.

This is false about Neji being able to stop Lee. The Gates "Force" the chakra to flow through them. Even if they are closed the Chakra would be forced to go through. Also Jounin is just a rank and means nothing. If you remember its stated that several members of the gang actually have the power to be Jounin but they aren't promoted because ability isn't all it takes to be one. You need smarts, the ability to control your emotions, and you need to be able to follow orders and follow the mission you are assigned. Neji other than Shikimaru has been the only one who has showed the ability to be a Jounin but not by his ability but by showing other things.

[Koby]

This is false about Neji being able to stop Lee. The Gates "Force" the chakra to flow through them. Even if they are closed the Chakra would be forced to go through. Also Jounin is just a rank and means nothing. If you remember its stated that several members of the gang actually have the power to be Jounin but they aren't promoted because ability isn't all it takes to be one. You need smarts, the ability to control your emotions, and you need to be able to follow orders and follow the mission you are assigned. Neji other than Shikimaru has been the only one who has showed the ability to be a Jounin but not by his ability but by showing other things.

Neji's ability doesn't just turn them off, it disconnects them. Even if the Gates could be opened they wouldn't be able to flow through disconnected chakra points. So no, it's not false. Neji can prevent the use of the gates. Also everyone knows ranks are just that-- a rank. The point is, he obtained the rank one way or the other. Which means he has to have shown the ability of something. Neji has been looked upon as being the most gifted of his generation of Lead ninja. The fact that many people seem to be forgetting. Lee is the ultimate taijutsu user but he is incapable of any other type of ninjutsu which still puts him at a disadvantage one way or another. My point is, Neji's abilities in Shippuuden haven't been shown as to how much he's progressed either, but Neji does have to ability to stop Lee's use of the Gates which is Lee's best offense. Leaving Lee with nothing but his normal taijutsu against Neji's arsenal of ninjutsu. As far as Speed, it's unknown just how fast Neji is, but he is capable of some pretty wicked speed as well.