The moment the golden light struck, the entire pipe snapped in two at the middle.
A terrifying shock wave spread in every direction from the point of impact. Every raindrop evaporated the instant it touched that surge of air, turning into scalding white mist that swallowed half the iron tower.
Deva Path Pain was driven dozens of meters straight back by the force, his feet plowing two deep furrows through the steel pipe's surface. The metal edges curled high, sparks scraping along his entire path.
The other five Paths moved almost simultaneously, sweeping in from different directions to stand before Deva Path, the six forming a defensive formation.
The white mist dispersed.
Goten stood in front of Jiraiya, his left hand in his pocket. Muddy water stained his right cuff, and he shook it twice in disgust but failed to get it clean.
"Tch."
He turned his head and glanced back at Jiraiya, who lay in bloody water.
"Old fool, I told you not to die out here. Are your ears just for decoration?"
Jiraiya lay submerged in filthy water, his left arm severed at the shoulder and an unknown number of ribs shattered. His Sage Mode had long since faded, his white hair floated in the water, and his face was covered in blood.
One eye was open, the other caked shut with blood. His lips trembled for a long while before he squeezed out half a sentence.
"How... did you get here...?"
"I flew. How else? Swim?"
Goten flicked a finger on his right hand.
A mass of golden ki, so dense it shone, shot from his fingertip and entered Jiraiya's chest, traveling through his severed meridians. The bleeding at his severed arm stopped on the spot, and his heart meridian, so erratic it was nearly failing, was