Fate, destiny, freedom, and oppression are all recurring themes in Naruto, where many of the main cast struggle with their own place in the world in different ways. Being born into a certain nation, village, or clan in the shinobi world is sure to come with its fair share of advantages and disadvantages, and balance between the two can vary in the extreme. Destiny is also central to Naruto himself, as he grows from a young jinchuriki, who was ostracized by his village, into a hero for his people, achieving his dream of finally becoming Hokage and being acknowledged by his peers. Along this route, there is one particular clash of ideals in Naruto that has always stood out. During the Chunin Exams Arc in Part I, Naruto and Neji Hyuga engage in a one-on-one battle, each advocating for their own views on destiny. While Naruto was one to believe that one's fate was in their own hands, Neji contradicted this, stating that destiny was preordained, and could not be altered no matter the circumstances.
This conflict of ideals elevated the fight between the two to more than a clash of fists of wits, where only the victor's ideology would be validated. Naruto eventually emerged triumphant in this fight, marking the first one-on-one battle he had won at that point in the series. Although at first glance, it seemed as if Naruto's victory had Neji proved wrong about the nature of destiny, this quickly unraveled in the second half of the series where Naruto was revealed to be none other than the son of the Fourth Hokage, the child of Gamamaru's prophecy, a reincarnation of Asura Otsutsuki, and a jinchuriki who would unite the tailed beasts as the second coming of the Sage of Six Paths. This effectively proved that Naruto's fate was also preordained, and his victory was the only possible outcome of the fight. Further along the line, Neji's own death during the War Arc reinforced this statement, where he laid down his life protecting Naruto. However, there are more layers to this battle, beginning with Neji's own upbringing.
A Victim Of Fate
Born into the branch family of the Hyuga clan, Neji saw his life as one of eternal servitude, doomed to never reach his full potential due to the restraints imposed on him by the clan's internal hierarchy. At a tender age, he was branded with the Hyuga's cursed seal, which would seal off his Byakugan on death, preventing anyone outside the caln from gaining access to his dojutsu. Neji's natural talent with the Hyuga's fabled techniques singled him out as a prodigy among his peers, to the point where his father Hizashi resented the clan's branch-based hierarchy for impeding his ascension to head of the family. This came at a time when Hinata, the heiress of the main family appeared ill-suited to lead the clan.
After witnessing the effect of the cursed seal when Hiashi Hyuga, the head of the clan used it to subdue his brother Hizashi after sensing ill intent from the latter, Neji grew disdainful of the fate he had been born into. Further along the line, the Hyuga affair increased this resentment, after Neji had to watch as his father was made to sacrifice himself in place of his brother for the sake of the clan. Neji would not find out till years later that Hizashi had actually done this of his own accord, refusing to listen to Hiashi's protests on the matter. Growing in skill year by year, Neji quickly emerged as a natural genius whose skill was practicaly unmatched both among his peers in the clan and the village of Konohagakure. However, he still believed that all of this was for naught, as his life would still be devoted to safeguarding the Hyuga main line, who he had come to despise.
A Destined Confrontation
During the one-on-one preliminary matches of the Chunin Exams, Neji utterly defeated Hinata when matched against her, the difference in their skill being too much for the latter to match. Hinata's perseverance despite all this thoroughly moves Naruto, who vows to defeat Neji when paired with him during the next stage. After taking a heavy beating from Neji and his array of advanced Gentle Fist techniques, which effectively disabled nearly all of his chakra pathways, Naruto managed to emerge as the victor by using his cunning and tactical edge. He was also aided by a considerable amount of help from the Nine-Tails chakra sealed within him, which began to leak out in tandem with the storm of emotions within him, brewed up by Neji's incessant taunting.
Convinced of the fault in his ideology, Neji began to see Naruto's viewpoint as someone who had defied all the negative expectations that society had placed on him, even admitting that he was wrong and resolving to create a new destiny for himself. Over time, he grew in stature among the ranks of the Hyuga, training with Hiashi himself, who recognized and resolved to nurture the young shinobi's immense talent. By the start of Part II, he has even achieved the rank of jonin before anyone else in his age group. Now acknowledged by all in Konoha, including the main line of his own clan, it seemed as if Neji had finally carved out a new fate for himself, one where he could finally deliver on the promise he had shown in his early years.
Where Naruto's Statements Fail
In parallel, Naruto's own growth was exponential, as he revealed himself to be a late bloomer who became his village's most powerful asset through his perseverance and never say die attitude. Even with this in mind, he did have advantages of his own, specifically his extremely high chakra reserves as an Uzumaki and his status as a jinchuriki of the Nine Tails, said to be the strongest of the tailed beasts. The later reveal of Naruto as the child of prophecy who would be trained by Jiraiya to save the world from the Akatsuki's Eye of the Moon Plan was another marker of the inconsistency in Naruto's statements during the fight against Neji. Finally, his reveal as the reincarnation of the son of the Sage of Six Paths completely contradicted the notion that his destiny was unwritten prior to the fight, such that Naruto's victory in the fight now seemed to have been the only possible outcome of the confrontation.
The final nail in the coffin of Naruto's beliefs came during the War Arc. When pushed to his limits, he enlists the aid of the Allied Shinobi forces including Hiashi, Neji, and Hinata, who vow to protect Naruto no matter what, on seeing how vital he is to turn gain a foothold in the battle. Obito takes note of this and fires a pinpoint attack with the Ten-Tails, aimed directly at Naruto.
With little time to react, Hinata attempts to deflect the attack, until Neji himself throws himself between the Naruto and the wood projectile aimed at him, which travels along a path aligned with the blind spot of his Byakugan, sacrificing his life for the war effort. Aware that he would die within minutes, he thanked Naruto for calling him a genius and changing his worldview, stating that he finally understood his father's sentiments about choosing to protect those he cares about. However, on observing the sequence of events in the story, it is quite plain to see that Neji was right all along, as he eventually gave his life to protect Hinata — a member of the main Hyuga line — and Naruto. Hence, the entire discourse on destiny is rendered null and void by both Neji's untimely death and Naruto's emergence as a prophesied savior of the world, eroding all meaning behind Naruto's victory against Neji.