The enormous sphere pieced together from countless rocks, steel, and earth was still expanding. Its diameter had long since exceeded several hundred meters, completely blocking out the sky overhead. Its shadow fell over the entire village, making it as dark as night.
Gravity kept pulling. Chunks of ground flew upward from beneath their feet, pipes were ripped out and flung into the sky, and even the air surged upward.
Goten glanced down at the ki barrier behind him. Jiraiya was safely protected inside. Though the old man had lost an arm, his complexion had improved considerably under the golden energy's healing. At least he would not die on the spot.
"Brat, what are you planning?"
Jiraiya shouted hoarsely.
No one answered.
The steel plate underfoot suddenly caved in. Cracks burst outward in every direction from where Goten stood, and half the foundation collapsed beneath his foot.
By the next breath, he was no longer on the ground.
A rumbling thunderclap rolled upward from below. It was not thunder from the sky, but the sound of a body smashing straight through the sound barrier. The shock wave shaved another layer off the buildings still standing below.
Sage Fukasaku clung to Jiraiya's shoulder. The old toad kept his head tilted back, his eyes following the golden trail of light across the sky.
"Little Jiraiya... he charged straight up? Anything that approaches that gravitational field gets sucked in and crushed..."
Sage Shima smacked him on the head from the other side.
"What are you worrying about? He already withstood Shinra Tensei. Do you think he's afraid of heights like you?"
In midair.
Deva Path Pain hovered beneath the Chibaku Tensei, his Rinnegan locking onto the golden pillar of light surging upward through the rain, mist, and rubble.
His sneer did not last three