Shikaku Nara in Naruto

Shikaku was partnered with Chōza Akimichi and Inoichi Yamanaka when he became a genin. Shikaku’s team was assigned to deliver a request for the peace treaty between the Konoha and Iwa during a time when the Third Shinobi World War was concluding. Much later, during the attack of the Nine-Tailed Fox, Shikaku’s team assisted in the village’s defense.

Part 1

During the Chūnin Exams, Shikaku was seen attending a festival with his former teammates, where he gave Inoichi Yamanaka a hard time for having a daughter. He asked Shikamaru why he wasn’t enjoying the festivals when the latter came to pick him up.

Konoha Crush

Shikaku fought alongside his former teammates during the Konoha Crush, to repel the invading forces. He was later seen attending the Third Hokage’s funeral.

Sasuke Recovery Mission

Shikaku spoke to his son Shikamaru when the mission to save Sasuke was unsuccessful and the aftermath caused some of his teammates severe injuries. He encouraged his son to keep his responsibilities as a team leader, as a team on a mission without him could have multiple casualties, whereas a team with him could have no casualties.

Part 2

Akatsuki Suppression Mission

Shikaku appeared after Asuma Sarutobi’s funeral, consoled Shikamaru about Asuma’s death and offered to play shōgi with him. After Shikamaru avenged Asuma, Shikaku again played shōgi with him and discussed the concept of the “King” before defeating him.

Pain’s Assault

Shikaku, Shikamaru and Shiho survived Pain’s destruction of Konoha. Having apparently learned some senjutsu, he instructed his son not to intervene with Naruto Uzumaki’s struggle with Pain, and they instead gathered with surrounding villagers.

Soon after, he and Inoichi proceeded in the quest for Pain’s true body, only to stumble into Naruto, who had defeated Pain. When Inoichi argued that talking wouldn’t fix things, Shikaku, recalling Shikamaru’s statements concerning Naruto, persuaded Inoichi to cooperate. He realized that he made the right decision in trusting Naruto when Pain resurrected everyone he had slain.

Five Kage Summit

Shikaku was one of the five Konoha villagers summoned before the Fire Daimyō following the invasion to examine the village’s response and reconstruction. When Danzō Shimura advised choosing the new Hokage while Tsunade was in a coma, Shikaku suggested Kakashi be the next Hokage because he was afraid that Danzō would be appointed. The majority of the council agreed but Danzō was able to influence doubt on Kakashi’s qualifications.

Shikaku sought to persuade the council not to consider Danzō’s ideals, but the Daimyō nevertheless chose Danzō to be the Sixth Hokage. He was seen with Homura and Koharu after returning to the village, telling them that the members of the Root were unusually restless. Later, he was spotted requesting his son to speak with him about something.

Fourth Shinobi World War

After Danzō’s death, Shikaku was summoned before the Daimyō once again, this time to designate Kakashi to the Hokage’s position. The gathering was soon interrupted by the announcement that Tsunade had awakened, thereby ending the proceedings. When Tsunade assembled a war council to establish the village’s strategy for the approaching Fourth Shinobi World War, Shikaku and Shikamaru came, despite Shikaku’s belief that his son was too young to be there.

Later, when Tsunade traveled to Kumogakure to meet with the other Shino Alliance leaders, Shikaku accompanied her and remained by her side during the discussions. He encouraged her to agree with the other Kage by sending a jinchūriki into hiding.

Shikaku is named the alliance’s Chief Battle Strategist and remains at headquarters with Tsunade, A, and Ōnoki. He counsels the Kage on war plans for mobilizing forces against the White Zetsu Army and numerous reanimated shinobi. He is praised for his usefulness by the Raikage.

Soon, Shikaku learns of Mū’s reincarnation and considers reconstructing the original Ino-Shika-Chō to deal with him, and Ōnoki decides to go instead. He quickly devised a strategy to seal Kinkaku involving the new Ino-Shika-Chō, which he sends to them via Inoichi’s telepathic skills. He assigned Shikamaru and his team members with battling the reincarnated Asuma.

When the jinchūriki fled their prison, Shikaku took command while Tsunade and A went to fight them. Dealing with the White Zetsu Army who had infiltrated all Allied Forces, he analyzed everything he knew about the White Zetsu’s abilities and everything he learned while preparing for the battle to come up with the appropriate solution.

As Shikaku worked on a countermeasure against the infiltrations, Katsuyu asks if they should notify Tsunade and A of what was going on, but Shikaku rejects, stating that he was put in charge of the situation at headquarters while the Kage tried to stop Naruto and B. He realizes after careful consideration that the only way to find the imposters was to use Naruto’s new ability to feel negative emotions via the Nine-Tails’ strength, as well as his shadow clones to cover a larger area. When Mabui hears this, he says that A will never allow Naruto to join in the war, while Katsuyu informs him that this may not be absolutely impossible due to A finally allowing Naruto and B to cross.

Shikaku quickly calls Naruto and B through Inoichi’s telepathy, and informs them of the immortal army and Madara’s Eye of the Moon Plan, as well as warning Naruto that Madara would not listen to reason and would follow his plan through to the conclusion. Later, when Gaara expresses hope that his motive for being on the battlefield will be revealed, Shikaku informs him that this may be impossible owing to the circumstances and informs them that he would explain later because he had decided to wait until they had completed fighting with Mū.

After hearing the progress the Alliance was making, he thanked Naruto and exclaimed that they had the upper hand and that all that remained was catching Madara, who was making a beeline for the jinchūriki, by concentrating their remaining forces on fighting him.

Later, the Sound Four trapped Neji, Shikamaru, Kiba, and Chōji with a buzzard technique that rendered their real body unconscious. After deducing the technique, Shikaku conveyed the scenario to Naruto when he called HQ, encouraging him to save his son and the others.

The little celebration at the HQ is cut short by Ao’s detection of a new presence on the battlefield as the Allied Shinobi Forces appeared to have taken decisive control of the battle. The HQ learns about the appearance of the real Madara Uchiha on the battlefield and they immediately try to encode who the masked man really is. After experiencing a severe tremor, Shikaku inquires Inoichi as to what was causing it. When the Fourth Division is under attack, he goes to Tsunade and warns her that if they continue to lose troops at the current rate, they will be in big trouble.

Shikaku informs Tsunade that they should use the Flying Thunder God Technique to mark Katsuyu instead of Mabui’s Heavenly Transfer Technique as she prepares to depart headquarters, but Tsunade says she will merely use her Yin seal instead. He tells her that using Mabui’s technique for someone who was particularly unlucky when it came to gambling was still a significant gamble, to which Tsunade reminds him that wagering her life is a different matter entirely.

Soon, when A decides to rush to the battlefield ignoring Mabui’s appeals, Shikaku believes that it is necessary for the commanders to deploy out into the front lines. Later, he contacts Genma to prepare to transport Mei to Tsunade, who was on her way to the battlefield.

Shikaku returns to the headquarters as the leader and inquires about the state of the other battles. When he heard this, he ordered the First, Second, Third and Fifth Division to assist Naruto and B as soon as their battle ended. He requests that Inoichi communicate with all members of the Allied Shinobi Forces and inform them of their position after receiving intelligence from Ao and other sensors, in order to boost everyone’s morale at once and get backup for the men fighting Tobi.

Shikaku later instructed Inoichi and Ao to check on the issue when the Sensing Water Sphere got significantly warped. He devised a scheme when Naruto was chastising the enemy and conveyed it to all Alliance members via Inoichi. When their first attempts to capture the Ten-Tails failed due to the beast's maturation, he began gathering intelligence in order to devise a new fighting strategy.

Soon, Shikaku questioned Inoichi where the attack was heading when the beast began firing the Tailed Beast Balls in the distance, but soon realized that the opposition was targeting HQ. He had Inoichi patch him through to the Alliance one last time to give them his final plan of attack and to say farewell to his son before HQ was destroyed by the Ten-Tails’ onslaught, telling the others that there was nothing they could do except continue to fulfill their responsibilities till the very end.

When Shikaku first appeared, he was characterized as a bit of an alcoholic who occasionally used Shikamaru’s catchphrase “What a drag”. He believed that women should be sensitive and loyal, but his wife had him “whipped”, despite the fact that he appeared to have a few things tucked away that he did not want her to see.

Unlike his son, his commitment was far stronger, as he had proved to keep remarkable tenacity and understanding even in the saddest or most dangerous of situations, as evidenced by how he had consistently helped Shikamaru rediscover his sense of worth. He appeared ruthless in warfare and had no qualms about choking the Suna shinobi to death during the Konoha Crush, even when one of them was plainly cowering.

It was also revealed that he was one of the few parents who did not tell his kid to avoid Naruto Uzumaki. Instead, he pushed Shikamaru to do what he thought was best for him. He had taken a greater interest in his son’s training since Shikamaru became a chūnin and had begun teaching him the clan’s more secret techniques.

He also spent a lot of time looking after the clan’s deer. He has also shown himself to be very caring to his son, as he was empathic when his son was plainly distressed and frustrated for allowing Asuma to be killed by Hidan, encouraging Shikamaru to let his conflicting emotions out so he could avenge his sensei’s death.

Shikaku’s scars on the right side of his face were probably his most distinguishing characteristic. He, like his son and grandson, had dark hair secured in a spiky ponytail, dark eyes and a goatee. His ears were perigee as well. Shikaku wore a meshed shirt beneath his flak jacket, a deer skin coat over that, and hand protectors in Part 1.

In Part 2, he was seen in the regular Konoha shinobi gear. He had a scar on the left side of his face earlier but it had been removed since the subsequent episodes. His flak jacket is also represented as a darker shade of green, likely to indicate his status as the Jōnin Commander. He wore a modest, light - coloured kimono and a haori with the clan’s insignia embroidered on the back while he wasn’t on duty at home.

Shikaku was unquestionably a powerful shinobi as a Jōnin-level shinobi and the head of his clan. His abilities, according to Kakashi, would make him a capable Hokage. His abilities and dependability earned him the respect of other great ninja, including the five Kage, particularly A and Ōnoki, the former trusting him enough to lead and command the whole Allied Shinobi Forces when the Kages were away dealing with emergency situations.

Ninjutsu

Nara Clan Techniques

Shikaku had mastered several of his clan’s hidden methods involving the manipulation of shadows. His skill with them was demonstrated during the Konoha Crush, when he easily bound and killed several invading shinobi. He also demonstrated amazing mastery of his shadow, employing the Black Spider Lily Technique to tie multiple shinobi while freely using a tendril of his shadow to transport his comrade to safety.

Shikaku could also work flawlessly with his teammates, Chōza and Inoichi, because of the close relationship created between their clans and their long standing friendship. This was demonstrated most notably when Shikaku was able to use his methods to help his teammates while also garnering assistance for his own techniques, such as leveraging Chōza’s huge shadow to facilitate his use of the Black Spider Lily Technique.

Intelligence

Shikaku was known for his brains as well as his ninjutsu abilities. He had kept on his family’s history of keeping a medical encyclopedia loaded with diverse knowledge, such as treatments for the Akimichi clan’s Three Colored Pills, which Tsunade had praised him for. He routinely defeated his son Shikamaru, who is a genius with an IQ of over 200, at shōgi, without the latter even realizing it.

His years of knowledge and skills came in handy during the Fourth Shinobi World War. He was named Chief Strategist of the Allied Shinobi Forces and rapidly established himself as a shrewd tactician and strategist, capable of quickly and calmly analyzing a large amount of information, anticipating moves and using it to quickly construct or reformulate very effective strategies.

He was praised by the Fourth Raikage for his skills, saying that he now understood why Konoha had been so difficult to bring down. When the rest of the Allied Shinobi Forces gathered to fight the Ten-Tails, he was able to put together a strategy using all of the villages’ various ninjutsu in mere moments, despite the fact that they had only recently exchanged information about their techniques with him. Temari praised him for his accomplishment.

Movies

• Naruto the Movie : Blood Prison

Video Games

Shikaku is a playable character in the following video games :

(To Shikamaru) “No matter how strong-minded a woman is, she will show kindness to the man she loves.”

(To Shikamaru) “Even if you quit being a shinobi, missions will still occur. Someone will carry them out. Your companions will just go out with a new leader. So then, maybe your companions will die.. but if you’re their leader that time, your companions may not reach that end… if you look at this time as an experience and you learn from it, maybe you can carry out your missions with less problems. If your companions are really important to you… before you think about running away, consider that you may become greater for the sake of your friends!”

(To the new generation of Ino-Shika-Chō) “Legends from the distant past are always exaggerated, but eventually, someone outdoes them.. that’s when new legends are born.”

(To himself) “Cool head, agile mind.”

(Last words) “We do what we have to do until the end, it’s our last job. Connect me to the people on the battlefield, I have a strategy to stop the Ten-Tails.”

Q. Who is stronger among Shikaku and Shikamaru?

A. Shikaku is stronger than Shikamaru. Even though Shikamaru has an IQ of over 200, he was always defeated in shōgi whenever he played against Shikaku.

Q. Was Shikaku a Kage level?

A. Yes, Shikaku was a Kage level Shinobi, as stated by Kakashi Hatake.

Q. How did Shikaku die?

A. Shikaku died during the Ten-Tails’ berserk attacks of Tailed Beast Balls to the HQ during the Fourth Shinobi World War.