Do you think they were purposely made to avoid each other? I think kishi also used both their deaths to bring allow other characters to develop but they had similarities like both being close range fighters.
Wow, I never even thought about a possible battle between them. Kimimaro would very likely win. Kishimoto probably ensured each character fought a certain opponent because he believed that it would be more entertaining.
Another similarity both share is in their approach to fighting. They both prefer to have the enemy attack them , rather than the other way around. They both analyse attack patterns and use a much less forward approach compared to someone like Lee.
As far as Kishi keeping them apart tho. If they met under the same context as Lee's fight in character and everything with Kimi wanting to use Taijutsu , then Kimi would no doubt acknowlege Neji the same way he did Base SRA Lee only more seriously.
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Considering SRA Lee was slower/weaker than CE1 Lee......
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And partial CM1 Kimimaro complimented that slower speed and used his KKG to counter it..
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This means that if someone like CE/Prelims Neji , who is tiers weaker than SRA Neji , can dominate that same level of speed Kimimimaro found impressive , but in it's faster/sharper form. This means CE1 Neji's reflexes/skill/Taijutsu would demand similar praise from Kimi much less SRA. Which would make for a epic melee fight visually , with both complimenting the other and pulling sick moves. Kimi would no doubt win obviously , but the interactions would be golden , unlike with Lee.
