[Ulquiorra]

Who had more development during the war? Fellow third tier players Hinata or Choji? Choji had a growth fight and Hinata did not. I know it's tricky since Hinata has millions of fans and Choji has almost none, so that can influence things, but it feels like Hinata got the better development without having to fight.

I think it has to be the right type of fight. Choji's growth fight was terrible. It wasn't about overcoming any odds. They had Asuma beat within seconds. Choji then cracked and sobbed like a wuss for three chapters, nearly getting Shika and Ino killed, before Kishi gave him a ridiculous looking powerup; and then rushed through the ending. Compared to Choji's very effective butterfly mode powerup moment against Juubo, which connected with readers because of his friendship with Shikamaru, it was silly and asinine. Fat guy cries, fat guy nearly gets everyone killed by being incompetent, fat guy gets told to man up, fat guy grows huge butterfly wings. Yuck. Another crappy brick in Shippuden's porous wall. Even though it was a fight, I don't think it compares to Hinata's cheesy heroine moment.

Yes, Shikamaru is the most developed and important of the K11 outside of Naruto and Sakura because he had the most fights. But it was the type of development he received during those fights where it felt more like something you would see with Sasuke and Naruto. The same can be said with Gaara who is also on that level of secondary importance. Just having a character fight isn't enough.