Age: 13[3]-14[4]in Part I, 16 in Part II
Rank: Jonin
Seiyu: Kōichi Tōchika, Keiko Nemoto (child)
Voice actor: Steve Staley, Wendee Lee (child)
Neji Hyuga (日向　ネジ, Hyūga Neji?) is a child prodigy of the Hyuga clan, yet because he is a member of the clan's branch house he is not permitted to learn the clan's most secret techniques. At the start of the series, Neji hates the main house and its members because of this, readily attacking his cousin, Hinata Hyuga, when given the chance. Neji is also plagued by the belief that one's destiny is inescapable, and that a weak person will never be able to get stronger. After being defeated in battle by Naruto Uzumaki, someone who has time and again proven his "destiny" wrong by getting stronger, Neji has a change of heart. He abandons the idea of a predetermined fate, and resolves to get strong enough to never lose a battle. To do so he begins putting more emphasis on working well with his team, something he had previously neglected to do. In addition, Neji begins trying to remedy the estranged relations between himself and the main house members, most particularly by being kinder to Hinata. His efforts seem to be effective, as in Part II he starts to wear traditional Hyuga robes.

As a Hyuga, Neji possesses the Byakugan, which grants him a nearly 360-degree field of vision. It also allows him to use the Gentle Fist style of combat to directly attack an opponent's chakra circulatory system. Despite not being permitted to learn many of secret techniques of this style, Neji has been able to recreate many of its most powerful attacks through simple observation, a feat which surprises many members of the main branch. In addition to refining these techniques into more powerful counterparts, Neji has been able to use the fundamentals of the style to create entirely new abilities. In Part II, this results in his creation of the Eight Trigrams Empty Palm (八卦空掌, Hakke Kūshō?), with which he can expel chakra from his palm to attack opponents out of his physical reach.

Neji commonly ranks within the Top Ten of the Shonen Jump's popularity polls, usually between 6th and 7th place.[10]