I saw someone try to justify Rock Lee one time by saying that his goal was never to be the hero hero - nor was it to overcome geniuses. He just wanted to be a splendid ninja and be everything he can be. To that end, he rose magnificently by overcoming his inability to mold chakra and a catastrophic injury. Now that I write it, I don't think that POV trumps Neji being correct about geniuses, but it was a neat way of thinking about it.
That is technically true and he did succeed, but he specifically says that hard work can overcome natural talent, and the narrative was being set up in a way for the audience to view him as the underdog that deserves to win. But then at the last second it turns upside down to prove that actually no, natural talent will just always trump hard work (whether the author intended it or not).
I saw someone try to justify Rock Lee one time by saying that his goal was never to be the hero hero - nor was it to overcome geniuses. He just wanted to be a splendid ninja and be everything he can be. To that end, he rose magnificently by overcoming his inability to mold chakra and a catastrophic injury. Now that I write it, I don't think that POV trumps Neji being correct about geniuses, but it was a neat way of thinking about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT2Ssj080lM
That is technically true and he did succeed, but he specifically says that hard work can overcome natural talent, and the narrative was being set up in a way for the audience to view him as the underdog that deserves to win. But then at the last second it turns upside down to prove that actually no, natural talent will just always trump hard work (whether the author intended it or not).