I'm pretty sure that those are the same jutsu just on a smaller scale but I guess he could use them without handsigns since they were merged with his body thus he wouldn't need to actively run chakra through them as they are basically one with him. This also brings me back to the point on how he runs his own chakra through the masks in order to use whatever element the heart contains.This is honestly debatable of weather or not he can or cannot so bear with my points.
But shouldn't have done it when he had Fire and Wind Mask left inside of him? that doesnt make an sense if he needs signs to do a jutsu that has no name of the attack and different scale too. Like here:
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If he died how would he run chakra through the masks and if he can't run chakra through them he should be able to use the elemental jutsu, right?