Quote Originally Posted by DarthEnder View Post
If he could use his power at range, there's no reason he would have touched the guy.
Actually there is a tactical reason: To make everybody believe he needs to touch the target. That could easily be the decisive factor between victory and defeat in an equal fight against an opponent under the false premise. However, right now I'd rather believe he needs to touch, even if we are talking about the most guileful person in the Naruto universe.