Hinata Uzumaki, the former heiress of the Hyuga Clan, was a side character in the Naruto series. During the show's early days, Hinata was shown wielding a unique Jutsu called Byakugan. Over time, plenty of other characters were shown to exert the same power, most of whom were far more potent than her.
Although Hinata became an essential part of the protagonist's life, later on, some still question her involvement in the main story compared to several other characters. The Hyuga Clan is also known to be descendants of Hamura Otsutsuki, making Hinata a strong Shinobi alongside her family members.
The following list highlights five Naruto characters who can beat the former heiress of the Hyuga Clan and five who will never be able to.
Naruto and four other characters who can easily beat Hinata
1) Sasuke Uchiha
There is no doubt about how much Sasuke has grown throughout Naruto's story. He sought perfection and power, which ended up with him getting way more than he could have ever hoped for. Wielding an insane level of prowess from Ninjutsu, Bukijutsu, and Dojutsu, Sasuke is lethal in both long and short-range combat.
With his skill level Sasuke can easily defeat Hinata, who is more suited for close-range combat, giving her a ridiculous disadvantage against the Shadow Hokage.
2) Neji Hyuga
A member of the Hyuga clan's branch house, Neji was considered a genius from a very young age. He mastered the art of Byakugan, elemental release, and Taijutsu before becoming a chunin and showcased them masterfully against Hinata in the preliminaries.
Neji could have been one of the most overpowered characters in the series due to his physical capabilities and mental wits. This makes him far more potent than his cousin.
3) Obito Uchiha
Obito Uchiha, in his prime, could wipe out the most capable Shinobis from all five nations. Even without the Sage of Six Paths, he could render everyone useless with his Kamui. The God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju, openly claimed how weak he would be in an all-out fight against Jinchuriki Obito.
While Hinata has come a long way in terms of her prowess in adulthood, it falls way short of someone like Obito.
4) Madara Uchiha
Madara Uchiha was by far the strongest Shinobi introduced during the Fourth Great Ninja War. He had mastery over all elemental releases, Sharingan, Rinnegan, Taijutsu, and Bukijutsu. Being an eternal rival of Hashirama Senju and defeating him during the war arc went on to show just how powerful he could become with Rinnegan.
Hinata will have no chance of defeating the strongest Uchiha ever to live.
5) Naruto Uzumaki
Being the strongest Shinobi in Konohagakure and having the highest Chakra reserves out of all Jinchurikis, it is easy to predict who will win the family feud out of the two. Naruto has grown to be highly competent in Taijutsu and Ninjutsu, granting him a significant advantage in battle if he ever chooses to fight his loving wife.
Iruka and four other characters in Naruto whom Hinata can easily beat
1) Iruka Umino
While being a strict and kind teacher in the academy, Iruka failed to possess solid abilities to defeat some of his students. He can cast basic ninja skills and elemental releases, alongside Genjutsu and echolocation. Hinata, however, was shown to have grown a lot with time, and Byakugan can easily dispel Genjutsu.
Despite being defeated by Neji, Hinata put up an excellent close-range fight, which said a lot about her potential. With her prowess equal to her cousin during adulthood, Hinata can easily take on Iruka and defeat him.
2) Kiba Inuzuka
Kiba's fighting style drags him down in some of his fights. During the preliminaries, he was shown to be reckless and charge head-on at his opponents, allowing anyone to grab the upper hand against him quickly. While he did improve with time, Hinata's Byakugan could easily give her a 360 view of any attack, including both Kiba and Akamaru.
Hinata's Taijutsu is exceptional in close-range combat, especially when paired with Eight Trigram Palm. On top of that, being on the same team for so many years also gives Hinata an advantage in calculating Kiba's moves.
3) Shino Aburame
Another member of Hinata's team, Shino Aburame's skill-sets make him a decent long-range fighter. However, Hinata's Byakugan allows her to view any hidden attack coming from different directions, which might take Shino a lot of time to counter.
Having mastered Taijutsu and Eight Trigram, Hinata could easily close the gap and end the fight quickly.
4) Tenten
Tenten doesn't get enough credit, and most of the audience tends to forget that she exists. However, there is a valid reason why that is the case. Skilled in Fuinjutsu and Bukijutsu, Tenten's skills also lie in long-range combat, where she was initially shown to be throwing a lot of kunai and shuriken into fights.
Sure, weapons are effective. They can push away opponents from heading into head-first attacks, giving the wielder an advantage. However, Byakugan can easily give Hinata an edge over projectile attacks. Like Shino, Tenten is weak in close-range fights, leaving Hinata only to close the distance to win a 1v1.
5) Asuma Sarutobi
Asuma was known as a close-combat fighter, making Hinata the worst opponent against him, as she is a master of Taijutsu and Gentle Fist Art. On top of having far superior movement speed in battle, Hinata can easily detect Asuma's movements using her Byakugan.
Asuma's Ninjutsu, Ash Fire Smoke, will be too slow for her, as she can quickly clear them out with her palm. Even after taking a close-combat fight out of the equation, Hinata can use the Twin-Lion Technique, increasing the range and destruction of her attacks.