The Martial Unity

Everybody could feel it.

They could feel it in the depths of their bones.

In the depths of their soul.

Fate had converged on this day.

Somehow they could tell.

The outcome of this battle would ripple far beyond this island.

Somehow. Somewhere. Somewhy.

They knew

The outcome of the battle would impact the entire world.

Rui flashed forward throwing the umpteenth Flowing Canon of the battle, aiming to crush Ieyasu in a single blow!

And yet.

WHOOSH!

Ieyasu resolutely swerved away from it, preparing his own attack.

Rui had predicted this.

That was why a swift kick had already arrived at his dodged position.

And yet...

CLASP!

Rui's eyes widened as Ieyasu caught Rui's kick with casual ease, staring deep into Rui's eyes.

Not a single word was uttered.

Yet Rui understood everything he said.

Inadequate.

BOOM!

Ieyasu smashed Rui into the ground, flinging him away.

Rui stared at him 'Something has changed.'

Ieyasu chased after him with greater vigor than before.

Every cell in his body pushed forward.

The sum totality of what he had to offer bore itself against Rui.

BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM!

A blindingly swift exchange of blows ensued. The two of them elevated to a higher level of Martial Art untouched by any Martial Squire before them.

Every attack.

Every defense.

Every maneuver.

Every motion gained unprecedented clarity and flow.

Not a single wasted motion.

Not a single wasted thought.

Ieyasu sharpened his Mind Read technique to the absolute limit, hyper-focusing it. Rui's conscious mind was larger and deeper than anything he had ever seen in his entire life.

It hurt every cell in his body to admit, but he was incapable of reading it.

He was not qualified to.

That was why he focused on one and only one thing.

Rui's movement decisions.

Everything else could go.

His thoughts.

His memories.

That absurdly gigantic palace at the center of his conscious mind.

They didn't matter.

His Mind Read technique sharpened, fixating on one and only one thing.

His movements.

WHOOSH!

He clearly avoided Rui's attack with much greater ease than before. He rushed forward, matching Rui blow for blow. The two of them exerted every ounce of power that they had, squeezing their bodies for every ounce of potential they had.

Every guardian reacted with pure shock.

They were inches away from each other.

And yet...

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

Not a single blow landed on them!

They were so close.

Yet so far.

An endless ocean of attacks flew at both of them and yet, not a single one touched them.

Their eyes were fixed on each other.

Very few realized the truth of their battle.

It was not a battle of fists.

It was a battle of depth.

Ieyasu read Rui's mind.

And Rui read Ieyasu's mind by reading his own.

Neither side was able to gain an edge on the other.

'No, that's not quite right.' Senior Sarak was the only one who saw the truth.

FLICK

Ieyasu's eyes widened as Rui's nicked his cheek.

Yet, Rui was not done.

FLICK

FLICK

FLICK

FLICK

It was tiny. Invisible to nearly everybody watching.

Thinner than a hair's strand.

And yet, Rui had begun gaining an edge in battle. He surged forward even as his body screamed in pain, snowballing his momentum.

POW!

A clean strike landed on Ieyasu's face, shattering his nose.

Rui's eyes intensified.

A dam had broken.

BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM!!!

He unleashed everything he had to offer as he blasted Ieyasu with every ounce of power he had to offer!

Ieyasu grimaced as he was firmly pushed back.

Not a single person could maintain their composure.

None of them understood.

Why had the balance shifted in favor of Rui when he was in a worse condition?

Not even the Martial Seniors were able to fathom the cause for this imbalance.

Only Rui and Ieyasu understood the truth.

Rui's patterns were built around the VOID algorithm. They were built to accommodate and empower the VOID algorithm from the very start, from his very origin as a Martial Artist more than a decade ago.

His patterns could only live up to their full potential when used with the VOID algorithm.

They could only show their full might along with the VOID algorithm.

That was why they failed Ieyasu against Rui. No matter how accurate his imitations of Rui's movements and techniques, they both knew he was incapable of imitating the VOID algorithm at the core of Rui's titanic Mind Palace.

It gave Rui an overwhelming advantage. An advantage that was just slightly superior to Ieyasu's advantages of superior output and a better health condition.

Just the tiniest edge.

And yet, it was superior.

BOOM!

Rui launched Ieyasu across the colosseum chasing after him with unerring initiative.

He pushed himself to the absolute limit.

He had to.

He did not enjoy a massive advantage where he could exert anything less than his absolute maximum effort.

If he slacked up even a little bit, he would lose all of the snowballed momentum that he had built by leveraging the tiny advantage he had managed to secure over Ieyasu's strengths.

His mind honed sharper than it ever had ever before.

The sum totality of his being honed sharp.

It focused on one thing and one thing only.

The mirror before him.

Instinctively, he knew. The mirror before him was perhaps the only thing left that could awaken his Heart.

BOOM!

Ieyasu fell to his knees as the most powerful Flowing Canon of the entire fight flew towards his head.

A finishing blow.

It should have been the end.

And yet...

SPLAT!

...

Every single soul watched with primal shock.

"...Eh?"

It took Rui a moment to process what just happened.

DRIP DRIP DRIP

Blood dripped from a hole in his abdomen.

A hole that had Ieyasu's hand buried deep in it.

In a single motion, a piercing attack had impaled Rui faster than Rui had been able to react.

But the Flowing Void Style did not have such an attack.

Rui's eyes widened in shock as the truth dawned on him.

A whisper escaped Ieyasu's mouth. "You were right... I could not reflect the depths of your void. And yet..."

His eyes peered deep into Rui's.

The world around them chilled under the frosty darkness that Ieyasu radiated.

"...I don't need to. I just need to win." He whispered as his next attack surged forward.

The sum totality of the thousands of Martial Art that Ieyasu had ever copied weighed down on Rui even as his body grew colder.

"Die."