The latest episode of Naruto Shippuden continues the childhood arc that chronicles the early days of the major characters in manga and anime. On this episode, the early days of Gaara and Shikamaru are revealed.
Gaara's Past
Episode 482 of the popular anime series "Naruto Shippuden" can be viewed online through Naruto Time. The episode starts with the early days of Gaara showcasing his power to his teammates. But even with his power, the episode shows the villagers' treatment of Gaara as the cursed child: most just ignore him while others even plan of killing the child one day.
But event with the villagers' treatment, Gaara continues his training as he still finds solace. Aside from Kankuro and Temari, Gaara also finds solace with Yashamaru who serves as his protector.
Shikamaru's Early Days
The second part of the episode focuses on Shikamaru, particularly his interaction with Choji and Naruto. The episode features Shikamaru's comment about Naruto's method of helping Hinata. Naruto chose not to use any form of technique for defense.
The episode also features a short interaction of Ino and Sasuke where the former tries to woo Sasuke through flowers but gets rejected. The three also pranked their teacher with Sasuke's early technique: sexy jutsu.
Childhood Arc Continues
The upcoming episode will feature another recollection of the past. Based on the preview, episode 483 will feature the two teachers of Naruto: Kakashi and Jiraiya. The early training of Jiraiya against the Hokage and Kakashi's early comments about the Sennin has been previewed.
The forum posts on My Anime List about the latest episode focuses on Gaara's sad situation since he's forbidden to do a lot of things. But even though Gaara's past was bad in most part, he became one of the greatest ninjas in his village as he became the Kazekage. There's also interest about the upcoming episode because it will feature two very powerful ninjas from Konoha.
The arc continues its recollection of the powerful ninjas in the manga and anime. The arc most likely preludes the end of the popular anime series as it makes way for another story arc that focuses on the next generation of ninjas.