When Boruto: Two Blue Vortex kicked off, fans were curious to know who would partner with Boruto. The Hokage's son was the most notorious fugitive in the shinobi bingo book after Eida's rewrite of reality. Luckily, three years later, he had Kashin Koji as a mentor to compensate for Sasuke being trapped in a God Tree.
However, numbers were against Boruto as other nations and villages besides Konoha wanted him dead, thinking he killed Naruto and Hinata. Thankfully, Two Blue Vortex's Ino and Shikamaru learned the truth and defected to Boruto's side. Unfortunately, the latest chapter teases that these spies will be outed. And that there will be a harsh price to pay.
Kawaki Suspects Boruto Has Help in Konoha
Kawaki's Perceptive Nature Clues Him In On Traitors
Kawaki is intent on finding and killing Boruto. Once Boruto is gone, Momoshiki won't have a vessel to possess. In Kawaki's eyes, he's justified in doing this because he'll be saving the world from yet another Ōtsutsuki threat. As Kawaki takes Delta to pursue Boruto outside the woods near the Hidden Leaf, though, Shikamaru is feeding Boruto inside information.
Ino has created a telepathic link, allowing Shikamaru and Boruto to converse. Therefore, Boruto has all the intelligence regarding those pursuing him and how the strategy adapts. Just when Delta and Kawaki think they have his chakra signature, they arrive at the spot only to find no one.
Shikamaru's data helped Boruto to escape. Kawaki and Delta clearly suspect something is off. Kawaki, in particular, thinks that a Shikamaru who was trying to ward him off the hunt, under the pretense of protecting him, isn't fully honest.
Once he puts two and two together about how Boruto navigated the outskirts of Konoha and avoided Ino's sensory team, he will be ticked off. Remember, Kawaki is in charge of Konoha's field work, helping the interim Hokage in Shikamaru. This failure reflects on Kawaki's competence.
Discovering the Hokage is bending the truth and ruining his hunt will leave a sour taste in Kawaki's mouth. He has been trying to mold a paradise using Eida's powers. To know people internally are sabotaging and jeopardizing this dream will warrant punishment.
Shikamaru's Actions Just Cost the Hidden Leaf
Shikamaru Gambled And Accidentally Weakened Konoha's Defenses
Unfortunately, while Shikamaru has good intentions at heart, he just cost the Hidden Leaf in a massive way. Him and Ino being distracted helping Boruto has allowed Jūra and Hidari (the sentient God Trees that evolved from the Ten Tails Beast) to come to Konoha. In this raid, they summon more Trees to feed on soldiers and seemingly kill them.
Shikamaru's actions wrapped Ino up, even though she was reluctant. Not to mention, this alliance kickstarted a domino effect that took Kawaki away from the gates. Had these leaders all been monitoring the border, they could have proactively sussed out the terrorists who planned to attack. As a result, Kawaki will be irate that Shikamaru made them vulnerable.
To make things worse, when Kawaki returns in this chapter, he is quickly dispatched by the villains. Kawaki is powerful, but he is left stunned that he can be beaten so easily. As such, they needed to be prepared for such a powerful threat from the onset. This isn't to knock Shikamaru, as he had reason to focus attention on Boruto once he learned Eida duped them.
But it shows that with ranks thinned, i.e. Naruto and Sasuke missing, and Kawaki being ad hoc about his military strategy, Shikamaru needed to prioritize and delegate better. Heavy is the head that wears the crown, and this sort of burden is what Hokages sign up for.
They must devise plans against the impossible. Konoha's former Hokages, like Senju Hashirama, Senju Tobirama, and Namikaze Minato (Naruto's father) all succeeded in this. Whereas those such as Sarutobi Hiruzen, Lady Tsunade, Hatake Kakashi and even Naruto himself failed on this front.
Add Shikamaru to the list of someone being spread too thin, and who will eventually be made the fall guy when Kawaki learns everything. No matter what, Kawaki is an egotistical, spoiled brat who will want someone to blame after this beatdown and overall destruction.
That said, even though Kawaki is a lost soul, he does respect the sanctity of life and doesn't want mass carnage, chaos and collateral damage in Konoha. This has snowballed into the younger shinobi like Inojin and Naruto's daughter, Himawari now being left at the mercy of the tyrants.
Unfortunately, there is no back-up to come, leaving fans hoping none of the kids are killed by the enemy. Shikamaru and Ino won't be able to deal with that blood on their hands, especially as some of the victims could be their children.
Shikamaru May Not Be Hokage Much Longer
Shikamaru And Ino May Have To Become A Fugitives
Ever since the Naruto days, Shikamaru didn't want extra responsibility. He grew out of this laziness, admittedly, working as Naruto's adviser and then taking the Hokage job on -- not knowing Kawaki hid Naruto and his wife away in a pocket dimension. Even then, he keeps reminding the Konoha elders he doesn't want to keep doing this.
Diplomacy, politics and ambassadorship aren't his forte. However, he could be fired soon enough, or worse yet, incarcerated. Should Konoha not be destroyed, other parents wouldn't like hearing that he endangered their kids by inadvertently working with a fugitive. It's counterintuitive to the directive of years gone by.
The Hidden Leaf has been steadfastly trying to ensure villains like Orochimaru, Kara, the Akatsuki from the Shippuden era, and other Ōtsutsuki enemies aren't able to attack. This problem will get very emotional. If some of the parents don't try to exact vengeance on their own, and Shikamaru goes on trial, he could be sentenced to death, jailed or exiled.
Ino may suffer the same fate for this treason, too. It will surely leave Shikamaru guilty and heartbroken, as he usually sees all these moves 10 steps ahead. He would wonder if he still has it after all these years of experience, or if the pressures and rigors of growing older has gotten to him. More so, he wouldn't like that feeling of dragging Ino down with him.
It'd be quite sympathetic because Shikamaru has always been selfless and loyal towards his people. The only option may be to flee like Sasuke and join Boruto on the lam. If Ino does it too, he would have an old teammate and one of his closest friends from back in the day.
That won't take away from his knack of self-loathing and self-blame, though. Whatever happens, this will most likely usher in a darker period in Konoha -- one where Kawaki becomes more oppressive and rules with an iron fist. He doesn't mind being a fascist and subjugating people for the greater good. It can easily turn Konoha into a military state under the guise of domestic security.
This will enable the impulsive, petulant Kawaki to sniff out other spies like Sarada and Sumire. Ultimately, Shikamaru had good intentions at heart, but he may have doomed Konoha by working with Boruto. It would be dark irony, but an arc that reminds readers how sensitive things are with so many villains -- including Code and the Claw Grime -- lurking in the background.
