At the edge of the image, several Konoha ninja could be seen trying to stop it, but their ninjutsu was devoured and assimilated the instant it touched the black creature.
One ninja had his chest pierced by a black tentacle. Seconds later, he rose again, his eyes pitch-black, and turned to attack his companions.
The image cut off there. With a crack, the Mind-Cleansing Talisman split in two, its light going out.
"It's showing us the way." Kakashi instantly understood Byakuya's intent. "This talisman doesn't just purify. It also warns us when danger approaches and shows us the threat's source and form."
Naruto clenched the broken talisman and said quietly, "Kakashi-sensei, that black thing... it's coming for me, isn't it?"
Kakashi didn't answer, but his silence was an answer in itself.
"Then we can't hide here." Naruto stood, his eyes filled with a resolve rarely seen in someone his age. "It'll find this place.
"And if it comes all the way here, it'll hurt a lot of people. Lilynette-sensei said that true strength isn't about how many enemies you can defeat, but how many people you care about you can protect."
"Naruto-"
"I know I'm not strong enough yet." Naruto cut Kakashi off with a somewhat stiff but utterly earnest smile.
"But at least I can be bait. I can lure it somewhere deserted and give Dad and the others an opening. That's the best choice I can make right now."
Kakashi looked at his student. Before he knew it, the blond boy who had once been nothing but a prankster and a dead last had grown into someone like this.
It wasn't a matter of how powerful he was, but what lay within him-the courage and resolve to follow a path without hesitation once he had chosen it.
"Are