Summary
The world ofNarutohas changed drastically over the course of the last few years, especially sinceBorutobegan serializing. At the end of theNarutoseries, fans got to see Naruto Uzumaki fulfill his dream and become the Hokage, finally delivering upon the promise that he once made to himself.
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In theBorutoera, Naruto Uzumaki was seen livinghis dream out as the Hokage of the villagefor quite a long time. Fans got a very good glimpse of their beloved yellow-haired ninja leading by example, that is, until the end of the first part ofBoruto. Naruto Uzumaki was met with a very tragic fate and this meant that Konoha needed a new leader. To the surprise of the fans, the one who was elected as the 8th Hokage was none other than Shikamaru.
The End Of Naruto’s Role As The 7th Hokage
Naruto Uzumaki served as the Seventh Hokagefor quite a long time. After Kakashi stepped down, it was Naruto who was given this position that was rightfully his, given that he was the man most fitting for it. During his reign, The village enjoyed peace and, above all, a great deal of protection, as was expected of the strongest shinobi of all time. However, in Boruto, things started dwindling when the likes of the Otsutsuki made their move and caused all sorts of problems. Furthermore, the evil organization, Kara, also made their presence known and caused further problems for all the five nations.
Naturally, Naruto Uzumaki, being the strongest of all, had to tackle these situations by himself and he certainly did that. The biggest threat of all, Isshiki Otsutsuki, was dealt with by Naruto himself. To defeat him, he had to channel his innermost powers and tap into an ability known as Baryon Mode.
While Naruto was successful in taking him down, this also led to the death of Kurama and lowered Naruto’s strength significantly. Eventually, Naruto reached a power level where he was unable to protect himself from the stronger enemies. That is when Kawaki, his adoptive son, decided that Naruto needed to be locked away in the pocket dimension of Daikokuten. Kawaki intended to make the village and the world a safe place for Naruto, and that required him to kill Boruto as well. To avoid Naruto’s interference, he was locked away and declared as dead. Konoha was without a Hokage for quite a long time and eventually, they had to pick a new leader, which is what they did at some point during the 3-year timeskip ofBoruto.
Shikamaru As The 8th Hokage
In the very first chapter ofBoruto: Two Blue Vortex, fans were met with a lot of surprises. The new character designs and new story revelations were certainly fun for everyone to see, however, the biggest change that fans had a hard time digesting was certainly the appointment of the new Hokage. Every fan of the series knew thata new Hokage had to be elected.This is simply down to the fact that Naruto Uzumaki was declared dead by Kawaki, and thanks to help from Ada, who used Omnipotence to alter everyone’s memory, this became quite easy to pull off. In everyone’s mind, Naruto Uzumaki was killed by Boruto and that meant Konoha had lost their biggest asset. Of course, a new Hokage had to be elected, however, the fans expected someone worthy to take this role instead.
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In the first chapter ofBoruto: Two Blue Vortex, it is revealed that Shikamaru has been made the 8th Hokage of the village. Shikamaru was seen talking to Sarada inside the Hokage office and the latter tried explaining to him that Boruto Uzumaki is not the man responsible for everything. Sadly for her, Shikamaru was not in the mood to listen to anything. In fact, the two appear to be on bad terms at the moment and it will be interesting to see how their relationship develops. Regardless, fans finally got to see Shikamaru don the famous Hokage cloak, and take one of the most prestigious positions to have ever existed in the world ofNaruto.
Why Shikamaru Was Chosen As The Hokage
The decision to make Shikamaru the 8th Hokage is something that was certainly taken during the timeskip. Usually, the village elders and some elites have a discussion about who is going to lead them. The likes of Kakashi and Tsunade could also have been involved in this decision-making. Shikamaru is a decent ninja and, above all, one of the smartest in the entire story. His biggest strength is the fact that he has a tremendous brain that only a handful can compete with. He can outsmart nearly anyone and, when it comes to leading, he can certainly strategize and plan things better than anyone in the entire series, other than, perhaps, Kakashi and Sasuke. These were Shikamaru’s biggest strengths.
Another reason why he mighthave been chosen as the Hokageis the fact that he has experience leading. Shikamaru has served as the advisor to three Hokage. The first Hokage that he advised was Tsunade. After her, he also served as the advisor to Kakashi, who took this position for quite some time. With Naruto, Shikamaru was always at his side advising him on various things. As such, he knew the ins and outs of this position and that could have been one of the reasons why he was chosen as the 8th Hokage.
How Shikamaru Is Unfit To Be Hokage
While there is no denying that Shikamaru is quite smart and certainly a very capable ninja in his own right, he is not someone worthy of becoming the Hokage of the village. Traditionally, the Hokage is the strongest ninja in the village. While that doesn’t necessarily have to be the case, it usually is. Starting with Hashirama, and continuing all the way up to Naruto Uzumaki, the strongest and the most prodigious ninjas of the village have eventually gone on to become Hokage. Shikamaru is actually quite weak and not worthy of this position.
In fact, several of his underlings are actually much stronger than him. The likes of Sakura can take down Shikamaru in no more than a single punch. When it comes to strength, Shikamaru is severely lacking. At the same time, Shikamaru is not an inspiring Hokage. At the end of the day, the Hokage is someone who illuminates the entire village and inspires countless. Nearly every single Hokage inNarutohas done that.
Naruto himself inspired countless, including Sarada, to assume this position and lead by example, using love and care.Shikamaru simply does not radiate the same feeling. No ninja is ever going to be inspired by him and his skeptic mind is always going to prevent him from seeing things that those bearing the Will of Fire could see. There needs to be a perfect balance of kindness and ruthlessness when it comes to assuming the position of Hokage. Shikamaru might be ruthless but he certainly isn’t someone who inspires kindness. At the same time, he certainly does not possess enough strength to lead by example and, overall, there are many better candidates for this position. The likes of Sakura, or even Kakashi coming back from retirement would have made much more sense.
Boruto is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and theManga Plusapp. The release date for the next chapter of Boruto, Boruto Part 2 Chapter 2, is set to be June 04, 2025.
