The State of Affairs

With the wars behind them, Konoha settles into an uneasy calm, and Shikamaru shoulders far more paperwork than he ever expected. Alongside Yurito he processes files for Kakashi, who keeps reminding the pair to slow down and rest. During one pause Shikamaru drifts back to watching clouds, drawing a joke from Yurito that he acts like a tired old man. When the workday ends, he and the Hokage trade thoughts on how much the world has softened, and Shikamaru admits he grinds through the desk grind so that Naruto can one day claim the title of Hokage.

His hours never truly stop. A shōgi appointment with Ōnoki ends in a win for Shikamaru, and afterward he still puts himself through night training. Between his aide work he arrives late to a grill meal with Ino and Chōji, catches up briefly, then excuses himself for Union matters. At a council session he is pressed on why formal job requests keep dwindling, and can only say the cause remains under review.

Temari corners Shikamaru to squeeze answers out of him, and when he keeps dodging she loses patience and strikes him across the face. He warns Kakashi that she has grown wary, since their off-the-books look into the Land of Silence risks pulling in the whole Union if outlaw and stray ninja are truly running banned jobs there. A dispatch finally lands from Sai, who has slipped inside that country, and its contents unsettle them enough that Shikamaru asks for two Anbu to travel with him. He is paired with Rō and Hinoko, chosen to match the skill sets he named.

Before leaving, he stops at the graves of his father and Asuma, where Kurenai turns up with Mirai and her sitter. At dawn he crosses paths with Naruto heading home from an Ichiraku breakfast, then meets his two Anbu escorts at the village gate, set to march for the Land of Silence.

The installment belongs to the arc titled Shikamaru Hiden: A Cloud Drifting in Silent Darkness, bringing the light novel of the same name into anime form. It aired in Japan on January 12, 2017, with the English dub following on June 11, 2019. The opening theme is Empty Heart and the closing theme is Absolutely.