Shikaku Nara

1. 1
   Head of the NaraDebut Arc · Chūnin Exams

   Leader of the shadow clan

   Shikaku leads the Nara, the clan of shadow-users who keep deer and brew medicine. He carries the role lightly, all slouch and sighs, with a mind always working underneath.

2. 2
   The lazy genius

   Brilliance worn lightly

   Among Konoha's sharpest, Shikaku stands out for how little he seems to try. He finds effort tiresome and says so often — but set a real problem in front of him and the whole village goes quiet to listen.

3. 3
   Jōnin commander

   The Hokage's planner

   As Konoha's jōnin commander, Shikaku is the one the Hokage turns to when a plan has to be right the first time. He runs the village's strategy the way his son plays shōgi — several moves ahead.

4. 4
   Brains of the Alliance

   The war's strategist

   When the Fourth Shinobi World War breaks out, Shikaku becomes the brain of the entire Allied Forces. Almost every move the alliance makes against Obito and Madara runs through his analysis first.

5. 5
   The final broadcast

   One last plan

   When the Ten-Tails turns on the headquarters, Shikaku knows there is no escape. He has Inoichi patch him through to the whole army one final time and delivers the plan that will carry the war forward without him.

6. 6
   A father's last words

   The rest is yours

   In the same breath, Shikaku says goodbye to Shikamaru — passing the future to his son as plainly and as quietly as he ever did anything. Then the headquarters is gone.

Shikaku's sharpest weapon was never a jutsu — it was his mind, the strategist's intellect that planned a world war's worth of moves. Around it sat the Nara shadows: a technique that pins a target to mirror his every motion, shaped by his Yin nature, with Fire and Earth to fall back on.

Play today's Narutodle or browse past answers.

• Who is Shikaku Nara?+

  Shikaku Nara was the head of the Nara clan, Konoha's jōnin commander, and Shikamaru's father. He served as the chief strategist of the Allied Shinobi Forces during the Fourth Shinobi World War.
• Is Shikaku Shikamaru's father?+

  Yes. Shikaku was Shikamaru's father, and the two share the same lazy-genius temperament. Shikamaru inherited both the Nara shadow techniques and his father's gift for strategy.
• What was Shikaku's role in the war?+

  Shikaku was the jōnin commander and the brain of the Allied Shinobi Forces. Almost every major strategy used against Obito and Madara was planned through his analysis at the war's headquarters.
• How did Shikaku Nara die?+

  Shikaku was killed when the Ten-Tails destroyed the Allied Forces headquarters. Before the end, he had Inoichi relay one final plan to the entire army and said his goodbyes to Shikamaru.
• What is the Ino–Shika–Chō trio?+

  Ino–Shika–Chō is the long-running formation of the Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi clans. Shikaku, Inoichi, and Chōza were one generation of it; their children Shikamaru, Ino, and Chōji are the next.
• Has Shikaku Nara been a Narutodle answer?+

  Shikaku is in the daily answer pool of 210 characters. The Previous Narutodle Appearances list on this page shows every date he was the Classic answer, each linking to a replayable archive puzzle.
• How do you guess Shikaku in Narutodle?+

  Shikaku reads Nara clan, which nearly names him on its own. His Fire, Earth, and Yin natures — the Yin tied to his shadows — and his Konoha jōnin rank confirm the guess.