‘Shikamaru has a remarkably poor history of leadership’: Even Kishimoto’s Bias Can’t Save Konoha’s Tactician from His Biggest Flaw in Naruto

Throughout Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto created hundreds of characters with great backstories. While many of them have solidified their presence in the anime community, some stood out as the mangaka’s favorite characters. Itachi Uchiha, Minato Namikaze, and Shikamaru Nara are some of them. While Itachi and Minato had defined character arcs, Shikamaru had an overarching presence throughout the series, and even in Boruto, he’s a prominent character.

Shikamaru is the favorite character of many fans, and understandably so, given his fascinating character development. Shikamaru is universally loved and rarely criticized by fans, but fans once pointed out his one flaw that often gets overlooked. 

The only flaw that weighs Shikamaru down in the Naruto series 

At the time of his introduction, Shikamaru’s laziness was his defining characteristic, that propelled him to come up with interesting solutions. His mind worked faster than his peers and his sharp wit always helped him stay ahead of his opponents. His strengths were revealed to us fairly early on in the series during his match-ups in the Chunin Exams.

Although shortly after the Chunin Exams were abruptly concluded, his flaw was revealed for the first time. Shikamaru was skilled at coming up with well-rounded strategies and he could gauge his opponents’ strengths and weaknesses easily. However, he wasn’t a good leader as explained by this Reddit thread. There were multiple instances in Naruto when he was in a leadership position, but he put his team at risk despite his strategic thinking.

Shikamaru could come up with various possibilities and plan ahead for the future, but he sometimes made bad decisions. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what dragged him down, but it was probably the lack of conviction in his decisions. Exploring the instances where he missed the mark as a leader would help us better understand how he faltered in Masashi Kishimoto‘s Naruto. 

Shikamaru’s failures as a leader 

During the Sasuke Recovery mission, Shikamaru was the leader of the team of genins who were selected by Tsunade. Even though Shikamaru was aware of the power difference between his opponents and his team, his plan ended up nearly killing all the characters who were accompanying him. In his defense, he was extremely young at the time with minimal experience. 

However, the next time he fumbled was too ruthless. Shikamaru wanted to avenge Asuma’s death. He should’ve known the difference in the abilities of his teammates and the Akatsuki members he was facing. While he planned ahead for his battle with Hidan, Ino and Choji were left to their own devices and Kakashi had to fight Kakuzu all alone. If it wasn’t for Naruto’s arrival, it’s hard to imagine what the outcome of that battle would have been like. 

If Shikamaru was a great leader he could have planned out or at least thought of Ino and Choji’s battle with Kakuzu as well. These two instances show that as great as he is at planning and strategizing, his strategies fail due to his lack of experience sometimes and his priorities. 

Naruto is available to read on the MangaPlus app and website. 

This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire