Sealing Nagato

"Banshō Ten'in."

Naruto felt a pulling force strike again, but his body was not dragged forward—not because the force had weakened, but because Nine-Tails Chakra Mode allowed him to resist it better. He steadied his stance as golden chakra blazed fiercely over his body. Like a nail driven into the earth, he did not budge an inch.

Itachi moved. He charged Nagato from the side at incredible speed, his gray-white figure trailing a long afterimage beneath the moonlight. A shuriken appeared in his hand, and his Mangekyō Sharingan stared straight into Nagato's Rinnegan.

Nagato turned his head, his Rinnegan locking onto Itachi. But he did not use Shinra Tensei. Instead, he raised his right hand—a layer of purple chakra surfaced over it. It was the Preta Path's ability, specialized in absorbing chakra and ninjutsu.

A kunai suddenly appeared in Itachi's hand. He used no ninjutsu, simply thrusting the kunai toward Nagato's wrist. Nagato opened his palm, trying to seize the kunai—but Itachi's blade suddenly changed course in midair, stabbing toward Nagato's other wrist from an impossible angle.

Shuriken. Not one, but four, flying simultaneously toward Nagato's limbs from four different directions. Itachi had thrown them during his charge. Though Nagato's Rinnegan granted him shared vision, Itachi's throwing angles were too tricky; every shuriken had been aimed through a blind spot in that shared field of vision.

All four shuriken struck Nagato's limbs at once. They caused no substantial damage—an Impure World Reincarnation body would not be harmed by an attack of this level—but the Explosive Tags attached to them began to burn.

An explosion.

Amid the billowing smoke, Itachi rushed out from the side. His hands had already completed their seals, and the Three Tomoe within his Mangekyō Sharingan spun rapidly.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique."

Dozens of small