Itachi turns to face Nagato with his Mangekyo Sharingan, both Nagato and his bird spontaneously combust with black flames. The reanimated Uchiha jumps over to Ayanami, Jin and Naruto’s location as the Amaterasu downs the Giant Bird with Nagato still sitting on it.

Itachi reassures the group by saying, “Take it easy--I’m no longer being controlled. I used a new genjutsu against the enemy’s jutsu.”

The Giant Bird disappears in a puff of smoke, leaving Nagato lying alone on the ground. He remains unmoving. No different from a dead body.

“So you had Shisui’s Kotoamatsukami this whole time? And you had it set to activate when certain conditions were met. Itachi, you really are something special...” Jin impatiently taps his left foot.

Itachi looks at Jin with a raised brow. “You know about Shisui?”

“I’m… well learned.” The Onikage shrugs as he keeps his eyes fixed on Nagato who’s still burning.

Echo with Mecha-Naruto at his side, cautiously, slowly walk closer to the downed reanimation. The robot duplicate holds his chakra sabers, poised to strike as Echo kneels down to the reanimation. With one hand Echo absorbs Itachi’s Amaterasu while the other gathers chakra to his five fingertips.

Echo reaches out with his chakra infused hand. “Five Pronged Seal.”

“ALMIGHTY PUSH!!”

Before Echo can touch Nagato, the reanimation repels everything away in a huge gravitational shockwave. More trees are sent flying and the nearby lake is destroyed in the process. All the combatants have been forced to scatter by the reanimated Nagato’s shockwave.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“...about to school ya! Lariat!” Killer Bee activates his four-tailed v2 cloak and lariats Nagato in the torso.

As Bee lariats Nagato, the reanimation’s hair becomes red again, as well as his frail body reverting from an emaciated state to a more healthy condition.

The Eight-Tails Jinchuriki’s cloak regresses to a weaker state before disappearing altogether. “Wait, are you absorbing my chakra, ya fool?”

Naruto lands beside them both and asks, “Hey, Octopops! Are you okay?”

The hero of the Leaf feels something grab on to him as he finds himself stuck in the air. Nagato repels Bee away with another Almighty Push and proceeds to walk up to Naruto who is still suspended in the air.

“Now, Ningen–huh?!!” Nagato is interrupted by Jin’s sudden appearance.

The Onikage elbows Nagato’s side, ramming him through several trees. The ground trembles from the sheer force behind Jin’s attack. Jin then throws several black receivers just above Naruto’s head. The receivers hit their intended target, the eyes of Nagato’s Giant Chameleon. The reptile lurches back in intense pain, it releases Naruto before finally disappearing in a puff of smoke..

Naruto wears a grateful expression as he collects himself, helping Bee back to his feet. “Thank you.”

While Nagato picks himself up, the rest of the group reconvene at Jin and Naruto’s location. Rito uses his crystal style to make an ax, Ayanami activates her Twin Lion Fists, and Naruto makes a Rasengan. Nagato just stands still ominously with his palms clapped together. He stares at his enemies with a concerned look on his face as he raises one hand, releasing a black sphere into the air.

The sphere floats higher into the sky, growing some in mass as it begins to pull everything into it. Rocks, dust, trees, and the ground itself float up into the air, they all fly to the sphere, clinging tightly to it. It slowly takes the form of a small planetoid with Jin and the others being pulled in as well.

Oh--I know how to deal with this! Full of excitement and relief, Jin amasses chakra into his hand.

“That black sphere seems to have quite a strong gravitational pull.” Itachi remains calm as he analyzes the jutsu while still being pulled in.

“Oh man--he used this jutsu on me once before. It’s super ba--WOAH!!” Naruto is interrupted as a Rasenshuriken zips past him.

Ayanami launches her long-range jutsu right after Jin. “Eight Trigrams Air Palm!”

“NARUTO BEAM!”

All three jutsu travel at high speeds with the planetoid’s core being their intended target. Thanks to the core’s gravity, the velocity of each of their jutsu is greatly increased. The moment they make contact, a large explosion occurs. Gravity returns to normal and the explosion leaves behind a dust cloud, blinding Nagato. He can’t even hear them due to the repeated sound of debris crashing on the ground.

“--Urkk?!” Nagato looks down to find himself suddenly impaled by a large sword of chakra.

The smokescreen clears, revealing the sword belongs to Itachi’s susanoo. Chakra flickers off the avatar like flames. Nagato stares at the group with cracks forming all over his body with dust trickling off it and scattering to the wind.

Nagato gives a calm and proud smile, brimming with acceptance. “Please forgive me, Itachi…”

“Good. You’re back now… It’s the Totsuka Blade, it’s imbued with sealing jutsu. You will be sealed soon. So, do you have any last words?”

“Naruto… I shall go and return to our master’s side and from there, I’ll continue to watch your story unfold. I believe that you are the final volume of a trilogy, Naruto. Master Jiraiya was the first, the perfect beginning… However, the second volume is nothing but a failure, that one was me. One that even Master wouldn’t acknowledge.”

Even more cracks form on Nagato, he appears as if he could shatter apart completely with a single touch. Even more pieces of him begin to break off and are blown away by the wind, scattering.

“...The success or failure of a series depends largely on the third and final volume. You must be the masterpiece that finishes this tale, one that will overshadow the failure of the middle volume, Naruto.”

Naruto nods, giving his sibling student a thumbs up with the crow landing on his shoulder. Nagato gives one final smile before turning completely white. The sword pulls him into the gourd, sealing him.

“Jin, use your Mind Eater Jutsu on them! NOW!” Echo speaks to Jin telepathically with the Mind Transmission Jutsu.

“Wait, what? …Why?”

“You wanted your own Sharingan, right? This is quite possibly your last chance to get one… or did you plan on taking Madara’s eyes, Sasuke’s eyes... or maybe you want Sarada's?”

Not needing any more convincing, Jin quietly, slyly, weaves a hand sign and chants in his head. Six Path Sage Art: Mind Eater Jutsu!