[Luminion Lancer]

*Slow clap*

Bravo Kishimoto, bravo. Well, if you cannot write believable developing relationships from all those spare chapters where our hero was doing bugger all, you might as well make him and the girl that nearly died for him achieve "Battle Couple" status. Really, this is about as close as anyone's gonna get to "confirmation of ship" so we might as well enjoy it.

Chapter-wise though, 'tis certainly a grisly sight. Somehow, I find Naruto's will actually breaking down to be a positive thing. Any man who wishes to spread peace and understanding cannot rightfully do so until he has seen the carnage of war first-hand. And clearly, this is Naruto's first war and the death it brings. Oh certainly, he had known pain of losing someone close to him (Jiraiya) and seeing someone killed in front of him (Hinata). But this is the first time where he thought he was capable of protecting those around him (even promising that and we all know how he's like with promises) and it turns out he's still only a man, and a man has limits (until he inevitably becomes a God-Ninja but that's in due time).

Personally, I'd have had Kurama say that no matter what happen, he is always with him and thus Naruto could never be "alone" for an extra bit of "Aw, bros for life" moment but meh, we can let it slide.