A new, dark-themed chapter begins as Naruto Shippuden Episode 484 marks the start of a new arc featuring Uchiha Sasuke.

"The Exploding Human" starts with an old man named Tadaichi, who is approached by someone as he leaves a hot spring. Tadaichi confirms that he is from Konoha, but claims to be just a merchant; however, the mysterious person reveals that he is a retired Anbu, and uses an Eye Technique on him.

The next day, Sakura and Naruto visit Kakashi as they ask about the missing Konoha soldiers. Shortly after, an explosion occurs on one of Konoha's gates. Alarmed by the situation, they rushed to the area to investigate.

Five people, seemingly not aware of their own selves, are attacking the village - one of them is Tadaichi, who is a regular costumer of Ino Yamanaka's flower shop. Tadaichi is hit by a shuriken but feels no pain and begins expanding; Naruto summons his clones to save the security personnel as Tadaichi explodes.

The explosion also slightly injured the four other people, causing them to expand and explode. A few moments later, a new wave of controlled attackers appear beyond the gate.

Naruto, Sakura, Choji, Shikamaru, and Hinata began to devise plans to disable the attackers' consciousness without injuring them.

Later, inside a clinic, Sakura tried to disable the foreign chakra inside the attackers, but is unsuccessful. Kakashi then decides to contact Sasuke so they can analyze the illusionary technique used to control them.

Sasuke, roaming elsewhere, reminisces a few moments with Naruto as he feeds some stray cats. He then saw Kakashi's message from Sai's crow, and also hears an explosion nearby. Similar to what Kakashi explained, he approached the nearby explosion to investigate.

Later, two shinobi helped an old man named Iou, but he mistakes the approaching Sasuke as one of the attackers. Iou commands the two shinobi to attack him, but he easily countered the attacks.

Sasuke then easily disabled the controlled attackers with his Sharingan, to the two ninjas' surprise. Iou now wants to check on his daughter Amino, but unfortunately is now under control by someone else.

Inside their shelter, Amino stabs herself in the neck and then explodes. The shelter goes to a fire, and a screaming Iou tells that he will never forgive Fuushin as he runs into the burning house.

At the last minutes of the episode, it is revealed that Fuushin is the leader of the Lightning Gang - a group who steals money from bad people and gives it to the poor. However, the group was allegedly betrayed by the Hidden Mist Village.

Sasuke tried to see into the memories of the attackers using his Sharingan, but meets resistance by seeing a bleeding red eye.

Fans praised the episode for being a breath of fresh, but dark air compared to the earlier filler arcs. They also noted the amount of violence and gore in the episode, which seemed to be enjoyed by many. However, there are a bit of minor inconsistencies between the original light novel and the episode.

The next episode, "Collosseum," will have its broadcast premiere in the next several hours. For more "Naruto Shippuden" news and updates, stay tuned.