In any story, character encounters do not simply happen, but are themselves events dictated by situational conditions determined by the script-writer.
In this series we have characters such as Zabuza and Nagato who had never lost a fight before meeting the main characters while characters such as Neji have had on-panel encounters that always end in defeat. It could be said that some encounters, and specifically the results thereof, were a proper reflection of levels and ability and others were largely the result of the conditions under which they occured.
Which characters have track records that most reflect them in capability and which have records that come down to natural conditions such as meeting opponents in favourable states and environments and social conditions preventing them from meeting different opponents within their time period?
In this series we have characters such as Zabuza and Nagato who had never lost a fight before meeting the main characters while characters such as Neji have had on-panel encounters that always end in defeat. It could be said that some encounters, and specifically the results thereof, were a proper reflection of levels and ability and others were largely the result of the conditions under which they occured.
Which characters have track records that most reflect them in capability and which have records that come down to natural conditions such as meeting opponents in favourable states and environments and social conditions preventing them from meeting different opponents within their time period?