The Martial Unity

The two of them ignored the pain as they recentered themselves, staring at their opponent.

'Ieyasu, listen to me, I have a plan,' Rui glanced at him. 

The man glanced back at him silently.

'Unless you know of a way of breaking out of the spell of that technique, we need to find a way to compensate for it.' Rui explained. 'We can do that with long-range wide-area attacks, but if we spread it too then, it loses too much potency. The good part is that he's not sabotaging our spatial awareness by a large margin, probably because this is his limit without the Martial Heart and Mind. This means that possible actual distances between himself and us won't have too much of a variance. If we work well together, we can cover that entire area, and it won't matter whether he's sabotaging our spatial awareness or not.'

The basic idea of the plan was to use teamwork to account for sabotage to their spatial awareness and location-tracking senses. As long as they seamlessly timed and spaced their attacks together, they would be able to make sure that it didn't matter whether he marginally sabotaged their estimation of his location.

Regardless of whether he was slightly closer or further away than what they estimated, as long as they covered all possibilities together, it wouldn't matter

However, their teamwork needed to be beyond perfect to make sure that they covered all of the potential locations in their perception of where the Hypnomaster could actually be instead. 

Their movements would need to be perfect fits with each other. Like pieces of a puzzle fitting together just perfectly well without any gaps between them to form a perfect image and shape.

Ordinarily, such teamwork only came with many years and decades of practice and experience together. It was not something that two Martial Seniors would have been able to develop on the spot.

'However, you can read my mind. And I can predict all of your Martial Art.' Rui conveyed to him. 'With the insights that we have into each other, we can develop an absolutely perfect synergy between us.'

Ieyasu simply stared at him.

'Er, take an offensive stance if you agree. A maneuvering stance if you're not against trying it out once. A defensive stance if you are against it.' Rui conveyed.

Ieyasu shifted his stance, hopping lightly as his arms loosened, bouncing.

'Good to hear, but we're going to need close to medium-range offense for this idea. We'll also need to approach him in the opposite directions, as well.'

"Are you done with your little strategizing session?" The man yawned. 

Rui didn't respond as he circled around the man, activating the Greater Phantomind Void, distracting him in the direction of Ieyasu. 

"Hooo...?" The man raised an eyebrow. "That particular style of misdirection reminds me of Reina. You must have developed that technique under her guidance and training principles."

Rui didn't like how easily he saw through it. 

"But you have evolved it to an entirely different level of power," The man turned towards, Rui, pointedly ignoring Ieyasyu, as he grew fascinated with what he saw. "Incredible..."

Rui felt a chill crawl up his spine as the Martial Master's fixation on Rui grew more intense. He recognized the glint that flashed in the man's eyes. It was the same look that every Martial Master had given him thus far.

It evoked bad memories.

The power of the technique increased even more suddenly.

Master Zeamer's fascination increased even more.

His fixation on Rui followed suit.

"What an absurdly powerful misdirection force. I almost want to look away myself. And yet, you use it like an assassin. What a waste. Tsk, I should have never let her get her hands on you." The man grew serious as he focused more on Rui despite all of his misdirection.

It was at that point that Rui's self-control failed him.

A smirk emerged on his face.

"Heh," Rui smiled. 

The Master frowned in confusion for a moment. The next moment, his eyes widened in shock as he immediately turned around, leaping away.

BOOM!

CRACK

The Martial Master widened his eyes in shock as Ieyasu's fist crashed into the elder man's guard. A look of pure astonishment flashed across his face as he felt pain for the first time in decades.

Ieyasu had successfully landed a blow on the Martial Master.

"I told you I would break that finger," Ieyasu coldly remarked.

Master Zeamer glanced at the index finger of his left hand. It was warped and crumpled, turning an ugly shade of purple. "..."

For once he seemed entirely speechless and at a loss for words. Rui and Ieyasu exchanged a brief glance as confidence flashed in their eyes.

"...The two of you remember the bet?" The Master asked.

His tone was solemn.

"...Well, if I win, then both of you must promise to never reveal that just happened..." Master Zeamer's expression crumbled into embarrassment as his old demeanor immediately seemed to return. "It's a tough world out there. Can't have people think I've gone soft...especially when the two of you proved I have."

He glanced towards Rui. "You knew you would fail in misdirecting me... and that was why you succeeded."

Rui had a good understanding of just how overpowered his Greater Phantomind Void was. He also understood that it wouldn't work on Martial Masters. He also understood just how confident Masters were.

"You used my confidence and fascination against me," The man concluded with a hint of true appreciation. "You understand the depths of the very concept of misdirection better than any Martial Artist in the Lower Realms. And yet, that alone was not enough..."

He turned towards Ieyasu with a sense of wariness. "You... copied his technique, didn't you? In just a moment, you copied a lesser version of his technique and stacked it on top of his own, making it more powerful, increasing my fascination and attention towards him."

Ieyasu simply stared at him silently.

Yet he could not hide his smugness.

"Haha..." For a moment, Master Zeamer was at a loss of words. 

The very next, a profound aura of power emerged from within him, possessing a depth that escaped what Rui and Ieyasu could fathom. 

"Let us begin round two, then," The Master grinned with all his teeth. "Even this shameless old man has some pride to protect, you know?"