The Martial Unity

Rui and Ieyasu considered the terms of the battle. Both of them had come to learn much in the past four years or so. However, that did not mean the battle was symmetric.

For one, Rui spent a lot of time mastering assassination techniques. Those techniques were much harder to apply in combat. He didn't know what Ieyasu had accomplished in the past four years, but surely it was more directly relevant to combat than the things Rui had been focusing on.

"Does upgrading techniques count?" Rui asked.

"Hmm..." Master Zeamer considered the question. "Alright, techniques upgraded in the past four years will be allowed."

That made it much more palatable. It meant that Rui could use his upgraded Godspeed technique in addition to the Hypnomatrix. Perhaps the most rational decision would be to inform them that he had focused on assassinations for a good chunk of the past four years, but he decided against it.

He was truly confident in the progress that he had made with mental techniques.

"Can I use techniques that I've copied in the past four years?" Ieyasu asked.

"Of course," The Hypnomaster declared. "You copy technique principles and mechanisms before recreating your opponent's technique by understanding the principles by reading their mind and replicating those principles by virtue of already having mastered the principles of all orthodox Martial Art fields. It would not violate the terms of this battle."

This was quite a beneficial ruling for Ieyasu, it meant that he was quite suited for the terms of this battle.

Neither side had any more questions.

"Hohoho..." Master Zeamer put some distance between himself and the two with an eager and excited smile. "Take your stances."

Both sides took neutral non-commital stances. Their eyes narrowed as their focus sharpened.

The air grew taut, wrung by the force of their minds.

A maelstrom of pressure brewed in the atmosphere.

Doom and calamity struck the hearts of the few sentient creatures in the bizarre ecosystem of the clouds.

The cloud hornets inside the cloud grew agitated, panicking in fear of the unseen threats.

"Begin," Master Zeamer's voice cut through everything, commencing the battle.

BADUMP!

The two young men activated their Martial Hearts. An immense surge of power flowed through their bodies as they leaped at each other with a blazing speed, leaving behind infernos generated by their sheer speed!

BAM BAM BAM BAM!

The two men exchanged a flurry of blows at blinding speeds.

Not even a millisecond had passed, yet the first bout had already been concluded. Yet, the same could certainly not be said about the fight, as the two surged back in for a second round.

BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM!

Fists surged forward. Kicks swung forth. The two young men exchanged a flurry of blows on the surface, seemingly going all out in a brawl. Yet all of this was nothing more than just an exercise of evaluation.

What appeared as a fierce battle to the untrained eye was merely them feeling each other out in combat.

Not a single technique had been activated

That soon changed.

Ieyasu activated a breathing technique before a wave of strength washed over his entire body, increasing the speed and power of his strikes. His stance and balance shifted while his arms and legs turned, facing Rui like a compass pointing north.

He had deigned to employ a new Martial Art.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Rui grimaced as he did his best to mitigate the powerful blows of what appeared to be a heavy and simple offense-oriented Martial Art. Given that the Hypnomaster did not object to Ieyasu's application of this technique, it must have been something he copied after becoming a Martial Senior.

He was not content taking such damage from Ieyasu, thankfully, he didn't need to be.

Rui activated his Breathing Crucifix technique, the hypnotic technique that he had created to hamper offense-oriented Martial Artists. In his mind, a powerful hypnotic spiral identical to Hypnomaster's Martial Embodiment was generated.

It could not be ignored.

Ieyasu exerted tremendous self-control to avoid turning to the right and leaping away to the left. Yet even if he could control his body, he could not control the impact and significance of the pressure, that he felt from the right side, in his mind.

It wasn't by too much, but his consciousness had been drawn away.

And that was enough.

BAM!!

Rui landed an immensely powerful on the man's abdomen, flinging him away. The man grimaced, choking. Not just because Rui landed a powerful clean blow, but also because his breathing technique had been disrupted.

His eyes widened.

His breathing technique had been disrupted?

BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM!

Ieyasu gritted his teeth, balling up as he resisted Rui's onslaught. Rui refused to give him even a moment to psychologically acclimatize to the effects of Breathing Crucifix.

Attack after attack, Rui bombarded him with a flurry of attacks. Each attack weaved through his guard, aiming to strike a vital. Each attack demanded his attention. Ieyasu could barely focus on the bizarre breathing impediment that he had been hit with.

Yet the truth was clear.

Rui had activated a technique that attacked his breathing. It had crippled breathing, making it more laborious, and also had effectively sealed off all breathing techniques.

WHOOSH!

'Poison...?' Ieyasu wondered, dodging a blow from Rui, before narrowing his eyes. 'No... under these circumstances, it can only be one thing.'

A hypnotic technique.

Ieyasu's eyes narrowed. He knew that Rui's mind was extraordinarily powerful, so much so that simply trying to read all the conscious cognition that Rui exposed inside that absurdly giant palace in his head had strained his mind. It had been like trying to read a book by skimming through its pages in a few seconds.

What would happen if such a powerful mind mastered hypnosis?

'It may very well become an unstoppable force. A force of mind.' Ieyasu gritted his teeth as he struggled with all his might to dispel the effects of Breathing Crucifix.

While decisively inferior to Rui's, his mind was not ordinary either. He employed all the anti-hypnosis training he had gone through, he was determined to break out of this spell.