Shikadai Nara: What you didn’t see

Shikadai Nara (奈良シカダイ) is a genin of Konoha’s Nara clan, and a member of the Moegi team. Along with teammates Chōchō Akimichi and Inojin Yamanaka, he forms the seventeenth generation of the Ino-Shika-Chō trio.

Context

Shikadai is the only child of Temari and Shikamaru Nara. Shortly after his birth, Shikamaru noticed Shikadai’s cry and suggested that the child would do better to explore the world with his friends. Having known Mirai Sarutobi since birth, the two developed a brotherly relationship while training under her father. As her parents continued to stay close to their childhood friends over the years, Shikadai came to know each parent’s respective children well. On the day of the Seventh Hokage’s inauguration, he attended the ceremony alongside Inojin.

Personality

Shikadai takes after his father, Shikamaru, in many respects, and has a similar relaxed, lackadaisical personality. He finds participation in activities very tiring and quickly shirks them, as we saw when he turned down an invitation from Inojin to train after school. Like his father, he also has a tendency to say “Finished” when he succeeds in a technique or battle plan.

As a result of his laxity, he’s not one for respecting rank either, greeting his uncle – the Kazekage – casually before asking outright for his other uncle Kankurō. He’s also outspoken like his mother, telling Boruto Uzumaki that pulling a prank during the Five Kage summit was stupid.

Shikadai is considered a gambler and seems to have a strong moral code. For example, he was personally offended when Boruto revealed that he was cheating in the video game they both play with Inojin. He also gave up fighting Boruto, who he didn’t know was cheating at the time, during their fight for the Chūnin exam, because he felt that as a gamer, you should know when to give up to fight another day, when the odds are overwhelming. He also has a fierce rivalry with Boruto. At the same time, he seems to be quite close to him, accepting Hinata’s request to look after her son, suggesting that he is also close to Hinata.

Appearance

Shikadai looks a lot like his father and paternal grandfather. He has spiky black hair tied back in a ponytail, and teal-colored eyes. Unlike his father, Shikadai has sharper facial expressions – a trait he most likely inherited from his mother. Shikadai’s outfit consists of a cream-colored zipped jacket with a rudimentary Nara clan symbol on the back, blue pants and standard shinobi sandals. As is his clan’s custom, both his ears are pierced by gray stud earrings.

His outfit then changes to a white blouse, a green shirt, with yellow sleeves and collar, over that, blue pants and ordinary shinobi sandals.

Skills

Shikadai was hailed as a prodigy in the Nara clan, having inherited his father’s intelligence and possessing the Kazekage lineage. In the Chūnin examinations, he managed to defeat Sunagakure’s top genin, Yodo, and was considered far above the level of Kumo-elite genin Yurui.

Enquiries

Like both his parents, Shikadai is a natural strategist and tactician, constantly adopting a methodical, analytical approach to combat to stay one step ahead of his opponent. During his fight against Boruto, Shikadai stated that he would have implemented at least 12 countermeasures had Boruto used Rasengan.

Ninjutsu

Trained regularly by his parents even before joining the Academy, Shikadai is a competent shurikenjutsu practitioner, able to hit the bull’s-eye with ease. He is also proficient in Wind Release, as he is able to use his mother’s sickle technique, although it is not known whether he needs a fan to practice it. As a member of the Ino-Shika-Chō of his generation, Shikadai learns the techniques of collaboration with Inojin and Chōchō.

Nara clan techniques

As a member of the Nara clan, Shikadai is able to manipulate his shadow in a variety of ways. Using the shadow imitation technique to link his own shadow to that of his targets, he can force them to imitate his own movements or restrict their movements entirely. His mastery of the technique allows him to greatly extend his reach to simultaneously capture several different targets before they can react.

A new era

College Arc

In the anime, Shikadai joined Boruto in a race to taste the limited-edition burger, after which he took the opportunity to remind his friend not to be late for the Academy’s entrance ceremony. Two weeks after the Academy entrance, Shikadai took it upon himself to warn Boruto not to get into any more trouble. He then agreed to lend Boruto some textbooks, Boruto having forgotten to bring his own. Later, Shikadai joined the rest of the class to watch the fight between Boruto and Iwabee Yuino, during which he noted that Boruto will most likely be suspended again.

After Boruto’s failed shurikenjutsu attempt caused property damage, Shikadai and his friends were punished by repairing the damage to the Hokage rock. When Lee accidentally made a mistake in the repairs, Shikadai commented on his friend’s anxiety problem and sternly told him to get over it. Later that night, Shikadai was scolded by his mother for getting into trouble, while Shikamaru insisted that nobody is perfect and that people all progress at their own pace. Taking his father’s words to heart, Shikadai realized that he was being far too hard on Lee. The next day, Shikadai, Boruto and Inojin found Lee being unusually aggressive. A fight broke out between them, during which Shikadai devised and executed a plan to subdue Lee with his shadows. After the fight, Shikadai apologized for his harsh words earlier, and Lee agreed.

During an introductory class in summoning techniques, Boruto got into another argument with Sarada, triggering a confrontation between all the girls and boys. Later, when Boruto began fighting with Sarada over who would get the last yakisoba bun, Shino insisted that the boys and girls settle things with a race-for-a-flag challenge. The challenge quickly became heated, and many boys were dropped from the competition until only Boruto, Shikadai and Inojin remained on their team. Desperate, Boruto found a summoning scroll and miraculously summoned a snake-like creature. The creature went on a rampage, attacking the students and hurling Chōchō Akimichi from the roof, to which Shikadai helped Boruto save her. After the creature was subdued by Konohamaru’s timely arrival, the contest ended with the girls winning the flag. Despite their victory, the girls made peace with the boys.

Later, as an expelled Academy student possessed by an unknown presence began rampaging through the village, Shikadai, along with Boruto and Iwabee, sprang into action. Before they could stop him, a mysterious young man killed the destructive former student. The next day, in class, the mysterious youngster revealed himself to be a new Otogakure transfer student named Mitsuki. Shikadai was worried about this boy, whose behavior was both friendly and secretive. The next day, wanting the students to warm up to Mitsuki, Shino organized a welcome party for the new pupil. When Shino’s party efforts backfired because of his bugs, the class began to panic, with Denki begging someone to make the bugs disappear, which Mitsuki did with his Wind Release: Breakthrough, causing even more damage to the Academy. The chaos led Shikadai and other students to distractedly belittle Shino’s credibility as a ninja and teacher, forcing him to take the day off.

Later, one of the repairmen went on a rampage, being possessed by the same presence as before. Shikadai joined his friends to prevent him from destroying the Academy. While Sarada created a diversion, Shikadai overpowered him. Despite the initial success, the man quickly recovered and continued his rampage. Finally, the combined efforts of Boruto and Mitsuki put an end to the madness. Later, Shikadai, along with Boruto and Mitsuki, were called to the training ground by Shino for an extracurricular lesson. Once their teacher appeared, he revealed himself to be possessed by the presence of darkness. Shino then invaded the whole area with his insects, forcing the students to flee. After a long chase, Shikadai devised a plan to stop the rampaging sensei. While Shikadai and Boruto distracted Shino and lured him into the water, Mitsuki trapped Shino and electrocuted him, expelling the specter. Later, as Shino expressed his decision to resign his teaching position despite possessing it, the students convinced him to reconsider, apologizing for their earlier statements.

Later, increasingly concerned by these repeated and seemingly random attacks, Boruto and Shikadai begin to talk, trying to understand the source behind them and why apparently only Boruto could see it. Later, with Mitsuki, they find several of the girls confronting Magire, a shy boy who is a student from another class. Since the boy had recently been harassing Sumire, Chōchō insisted that he be more direct with his feelings. When Magire meekly asks him out, Sumire refuses, leaving him distraught and running away in shame. The next day, various frightening messages are left for Sumire. While Shikadai and the others decide to watch over her, they are systematically separated from Sumire. Finally, the perpetrator turns out to be a possessed Magire, who kidnaps Sumire. Shikadai and the others soon track them down, where Magire quickly attacks them with his cloaking skills. Eventually, Chōchō manages to reach Magire, noting that such indecision will never convince anyone. Accepting his evil ways of trying to make Sumire like him, the specter was rejected by Magire. As Magire began to apologize for his actions, he fainted, following a severe chakra leak caused by his possession. As Boruto and Shikadai continued to ponder the truth behind this phantom specter, and although only Borut could see it, they eventually came to the theory that it manifested the Byakugan. However, after Boruto tested the theory with his grandfather, Boruto unfortunately learned that this was not the case. Despite this, Boruto was still determined to discover the true nature of his eye.

Desperate to capture the specter, Shikadai, Boruto and Mitsuki decided to skip school one day, asking Mitsuki to write an excuse. However, Mitsuki’s bad lie soon got them into trouble, leading Shikadai to be severely punished by Temari. As punishment, it was decided that Shikadai would take after-school classes to make up for lost time. Later, Shino assigned his class to adapting other workplaces to better understand the lives of non-shinobi. Seeing Shikadai’s desire to continue patrolling the village, he subtly convinced Shikadai, Boruto, Shikadai and Mitsuki to try the postal service. While sorting stamps, they heard on the news that another attack had taken place at the water treatment plant, where Sumire was staying. Shikadai and his friend quickly rushed to his aid.

After learning that Sumire was okay, Shikadai and his friends were approached by Naruto. Realizing that the children were conducting their own investigation into the attacks, the Hokage decided to show them what happens to people who are possessed by the specter for long periods, requiring intensive care due to almost complete chakra depletion. As Naruto insisted that they stay out of it, Shino appeared, insisting that Naruto not underestimate his students after seeing what they were capable of. As Shikadai and his friends continued their post work and tried to find the specter, they soon learned that the creature was intentionally attacking in areas away from Boruto as he was the only one who could see it, from which Shikadai deduced that they were being spied on. Deciding to enlist the help of their classmates to better patrol the village, they left the post office, anticipating that the culprit controlling the specter would attack Postmaster Komame. Half the team set off in pursuit of the retreating masked culprit, while Shikadai and his half remained to subdue the possessed Komame. While rescuing the postmaster, the specter and culprit eventually escaped.

When another attack took place, the area was sealed off. Shikadai, along with Denki and Inojin, wondered where Boruto was, as well as the missing Sumire. The next morning, they found Boruto, along with Sumire and Mitsuki in the field. They were soon joined by Sai and his unit, who took Sumire away for questioning. As Denki asked what had happened, Boruto cheerfully brushed it off, saying everything was fine.

A few weeks later, Shino decided to change the three-man teams for their next challenge to determine the best pairings for graduation. Chōchō decided to team up with Inojin and Shikadai. When Iwabee realized that they essentially formed the Ino-Shika-Chō trio like their respective parents, the team agreed that their techniques were naturally compatible. Later, upon learning that Sai had been collecting files on Academies in other villages, Shikadai wondered if Sumire would leave the Academy. During the team’s challenge to capture the flag, Shikadai made Lee anxious enough for Chōchō to quickly knock him out. Shikadai managed to corner Mitsuki, but escaped with a thrown needle. Mitsuki created a distraction long enough for Boruto to win the challenge. Shino was then called aside regarding Sumire. As the class began to discuss rumors of Sumire’s transfer to another school, they were relieved to see her back in their class.

As graduation approached, after the class at the Academy had been dismissed, Shikadai warned Boruto not to continue his prank because of the meeting of the five Kage. On arriving home, he told his mother to tell Ino that he had a stomachache, simply to avoid having to practice, and casually greeted his uncle Gaara, which earned him a reprimand from his mother, but he shrugged and asked his other uncle Kankurō instead.

Arc Sarada Uchiha

When he learned that he and the rest of the class would be taking final exams in a week’s time, Shikadai found the idea unappealing. Later, he accompanied his father to prevent Boruto from interrupting the Seventh Hokage from his duties and, much to his regret, his father asked him to tell Naruto’s shadow clone where Boruto was.

Arc Against Momoshiki

After finishing their missions for the day, Shikadai hung out with Boruto and Inojin to play video games together. When he discovered that Boruto had cheated in the video game, he was annoyed and told Boruto that leveling by himself behind his mother’s back was much more fun.

Later, he signed up for the Chūnin exams with Inojin and Chōchō. He used his shadow to hold Inojin and Chōchō against the walls of a pit to avoid falling and failing the first Chūnin exam administered by Sai Yamanaka. In the second test, Team Moegi uses its teamwork to easily capture a flag in order to advance. In the third round of individual combat, Shikadai is paired with Yodo, whom he defeats with his shadow imitation technique and moves on.

In the final round of tests, Shikadai is pitted against Boruto. Shikadai is able to capture Boruto and his shadow clones by creating a massive shadow circle, eliminating them all at once. When he asks Boruto to give up, Boruto creates multiple shadow clones to surround Shikadai with his hidden device. Shikadai admits defeat, however, is declared the winner when Boruto is found to have cheated. When Kinshiki and Momoshiki Ōtsutsuki began their attack on the arena, Shikadai was protected by Rock Lee and rescued by Gaara from falling debris in the stadium, before being evacuated.

A few days later, Shikadai tells his team of his frustration with the number of missions he has been given. Later, Moegi rejoins his team and tells them they have a new mission, much to his chagrin.