Just as Ryu blocked Tokugawa's ears, the light in Ryu's hazy eyes immediately burned brighter. He was gripping Tokugawa's head, and a finger was passing through each of Tokugawa's ear canals, heavily suppressing Tokugawa's hearing capability.
The light in Ryu's eyes shined brightly, and there was a faint maniacal look to it. Then, Ryu's entire body burst with power, his entire body fueled with adrenaline. His speed was now many times faster than before, and he immediately tried to knee Tokugawa's chest.
Of course, Tokugawa did not notice the kick. However, that didn't mean he didn't try to attack. The moment Tokugawa ceased hearing his surroundings, he instantly panicked, and the wind sword immediately appeared in his hand. Even though Tokugawa couldn't hear his surroundings that well anymore, he could still hear his own body and control it. With one swift movement, Tokugawa immediately slashed forward, the speed of the attack surpassing that of sound.
Even though Ryu had attacked first, Tokugawa's speed was still faster than Ryu. As Ryu's knee was about to make an impact with Tokugawa's chest, Tokugawa's sword had already reached Ryu. With its disgusting sharpness, it managed to easily cut through Ryu's chest flesh, and it even cut a bit of his rib cage. Just as Tokugawa's attack was about to cut Ryu's lung, however-
*Bang!*
-Ryu's knee finally made an impact with Tokugawa's chest, and the strength behind Ryu's knee was so astonishingly strong that it instantly cracked many of Tokugawa's ribs, and even caused one of his lungs to rupture. As Ryu heard the sound of Tokugawa's ribs breaking, he immediately let go of his grip on Tokugawa.
Due to the impact, Tokugawa's attack, naturally, faltered, as he was flown a few feet away from Ryu. He faltered a few steps back as he tried to regain his balance. This attack was too strong, and, surprisingly, quite fast compared to Ryu's previous speed.
This amazing speed, this disgustingly animal-like strength, all these newfound strengths were only due to one reason; adrenaline.
This raw strength shouldn't be possible by a normal human, but that's only if a person was in their normal state of mind. Ryu's
To give insight into how powerful adrenaline was, even normal mothers who never lifted a day in their life could list a car just to save their child, and that was due to the adrenaline. Ordinary humans are capable of doing, quite literally, supernatural achievements due to adrenaline. Many people had been shown capable of lifting things that weighed over a ton or running faster than marathon runners despite being out of shape. It brought forth every ounce of strength the muscles could unleash, and it caused their strength and speed to skyrocket. Normal people were capable of lifting heavier than weightlifters, capable of being faster than marathon runners, and they were capable of easily killing another person with a few punches all because of adrenaline. And in all those instances, adrenaline wasn't being used at its full power.
When a human pushed every muscle to its limit, then they'd quite literally become a monster that is capable of shredding others, if given the right circumstances.
Of course, there are risks, and it is possible for the human body to be damaged, and the human bones aren't able to sustain that much muscle strength all the time. Moreover, a human isn't able to just activate an adrenaline rush as they wished, and even if they could, it wouldn't be the same as a true life or death situation.
Ryu's state of instincts, however, was able to. In that state, Ryu's instincts were in complete control over his body, and could utilize every instinct, including the fight or flight instinct, which causes adrenaline to release. That was why Ryu was much stronger and faster than he was before entering this new state. Matter of fact, Ryu had activated his fight or flight instinct at that last moment when he spoke to Tokugawa, and because of it, he had been able to catch him off guard with his newfound strength.
"Hah..." Tokugawa breathed heavily, his entire face covered in sweat. That attack just now caused all the air in his lungs to be let out, and Tokugawa had to instantly inhale due to it.
He was shocked, utterly so. Not only had he been tricked, but he was also absolutely demolished by a single knee attack from Ryu. That attack didn't seem like it came from a human, no, it looked like it came from a monster.
'What... is this monstrous strength?!' Tokugawa's mind was in shambles. He did not think that Ryu had this kind of strength, and nothing in his body pointed at this kind of explosive power.
As Tokugawa breathed in, he began to visualize everything inside his body once more, only paying a bit of attention to Ryu, in case he tried to attack again.
'Shit.' Tokugawa cursed in his mind as he continued to visualize the damage that Ryu had caused. That single attack had caused a lot of his ribs to be broken, and one of his lungs was even ruptured. Although Tokugawa had insane control of his body, it wasn't to the point that he could even close internal wounds.
After that, Tokugawa returned his attention to Ryu, and he instantly revolved his hearing capability to the max, trying to catch what might have caused this sudden increase in strength.
Ryu was simply standing a few feet away, his hazy, but burning eyes glued to Tokugawa's. Upon visualizing what was going on inside Ryu, Tokugawa was incomparably shocked.
'What... the hell is this?' Tokugawa's mind instantly froze upon visualizing Ryu's muscles and signals. His muscles seemed to contain so much power, so much strength that they seemed like they'd explode any second now. Not only that, but the signals in his body were many, many times faster than before!
What was up with this new strength? He was nothing like this just a few moments ago!
Tokugawa felt incredibly alarmed, and the sound in his mind was ringing much louder than it had ever been.
Suddenly, Ryu's body moved, and Tokugawa instantly readied to defend himself. But, as he visualized what was happening, he realized that Ryu wasn't rushing toward him. Instead, he calmly tore a huge part of his shirt and covered the large gash on his arm. This was the same injury that Tokugawa had inflicted on Ryu just moments before Ryu had entered this state. It was already bleeding quite heavily before, but now that Ryu had gained this newfound burst of strength and speed, blood was gushing out at a much faster rate compared to before.
Although Tokugawa felt like it had been quite some time since Ryu had entered this state, that was only from his perception. In truth, it had only been a few minutes at best.
Ryu managed to cover the gash very easily, causing the blood loss to be quite a bit slower. Then, he tore another part of his shirt, and covered the other injury Tokugawa had just given him a few moments ago.
Tokugawa felt amazed by Ryu's endurance. That amount of blood loss should have very much at least caused a person to lose consciousness, if not outright die. Yet, Ryu only had a slightly pale face, but that was it.
"You..." Tokugawa muttered, his attention never leaving Ryu, "What the hell are you? What have you done?"
Tokugawa was utterly perplexed at Ryu's strength. Although he thought that it was perhaps adrenaline, he found it hard to believe. He had fought many people who had an adrenaline rush, and none of them were as extreme as Ryu's.
In truth, Tokugawa was right. Adrenaline normally would let you use a huge portion of your muscle strength, but, no human had ever used it at its full power. Most people only used 50% of the adrenaline's effect, and until now, there were barely any humans that were able to use the full effects of adrenaline, and as such, most people hadn't truly used their full muscle strength. Those people lifting cars, or people that ran faster than marathon runners? None of them were truly using 100% of their muscle strength, as the adrenaline they released wasn't at its full potential.
But, Ryu could outright activate adrenaline at will, as he could control the fight or flight instinct. Right now, Ryu was using only 75% of his full muscle strength, and the reasoning was simple; using the full potential of adrenaline and using 100% of your muscle strength could in fact damage and tear apart most of your muscles, and even break your bones with just a single move or two. The human body was, after all, not made to use adrenaline unless in extreme life or death situation.
"Hah..." Tokugawa's breathing was hoarse due to one of his lungs punctured. He was alarmed and anxious. This boy was dangerous, extremely so. Although he had thought Ryu was a monster, he didn't think he'd have this much strength. If a single knee attack was this powerful, then Tokugawa didn't have much faith in withstanding many attacks. Still, Tokugawa's focus didn't falter.
The tornado around his body became stronger with each passing moment, and there was a sharp, whistling sound. Ryu's clothes were fluttering wildly, and they looked like they would be torn off from Ryu's body any second now. Even then, however, Ryu stood like a tall mountain, motionless.
Despite the injuries Tokugawa had sustained, the light in his eyes shone brightly. Tokugawa visualized everything that was happening around him, and focused on Ryu's body. He was analyzing Ryu, and slowly, very slowly, and thought of a way to injure Ryu. Tokugawa's muscles twitched, and his muscles were bursting with power.
"You are strong," Tokugawa muttered, his tone a bit shaky, "Disgustingly strong. But, let's see if that is enough to overcome overwhelming speed!"
Tokugawa's body suddenly burst with power, and as he was about to rush toward Ryu, he suddenly heard a voice.
"Uncle."
Tokugawa's mind instantly froze as he heard that calm, gentle voice. He could feel- not hear- a presence behind him, looking at him with eyes full of sadness. Tokugawa didn't feel the person was standing behind Tokugawa's body, but rather, he felt like they were standing behind his own soul.
'Hoshi...' Tokugawa thought, many emotions suddenly welling up inside of me. This 'person' was the demon in his heart, the demon that tormented him all his life ever since his nephew died. A tear of blood dripped from Tokugawa's eye, and he reigned in his emotions. His eyes showed a cold light, and the muscles in his body felt like they would explode.
"Uncle, it's enough. You have done enough... just come with me."
As Tokugawa heard the words of his beloved nephew, Tokugawa felt his mind become heavy. He didn't respond to 'Hoshi', and instead, focused his hearing entirely on Ryu.
Suddenly, Tokugawa exploded with power, and in a single step, he managed to instantly close the distance between him and Ryu. He had appeared in front of Ryu in a blink of an eye, and although he appeared extremely fast, Tokugawa knew that his speed wasn't at its peak. Because... he didn't break the sound barrier this time.
The internal injuries Ryu had inflicted on him had caused his body unable to function at its fullest strength, and as such, his speed dropped a bit. However, even then, he was still around the speed of sound, only slightly slower. Of course, his visualization was still somewhat at its peak potential, and the speed to send commands to the body was still quite powerful.
With one swift move, Tokugawa swung his sword at Ryu's head. Although his speed had taken a dip, he was still faster than Ryu by quite a huge margin.
As Tokugawa just began to swing his sword, Tokugawa heard all the signals in Ryu's body suddenly reach extreme speed, and his body exploded with power. The light in Ryu's eyes shone brightly, and with his new explosive strength, he managed to move his body at a much faster speed compared to before.
Tokugawa's mind was alarmed, this speed was far faster than before! Tokugawa thought that Ryu had at least become a couple of times faster than before. Of course, it still wasn't as fast as Tokugawa.
Tokugawa read Ryu's signals, and attempted to anticipate his next move.
*Swish!*
Ryu managed to somewhat dodge Tokugawa's attack, as the attack slightly grazed his cheek. Tokugawa thought that this would happen, as Ryu even before this new explosive strength, had been able to mitigate a lot of Tokugawa's attacks.
Tokugawa's eyes suddenly glinted with light, as he visualized Ryu catching his arm that moment Tokugawa's sword grazed Ryu's face. Then, Ryu suddenly yanked Tokugawa, and threw a powerful jab at Tokugawa's face. Tokugawa knew he could not escape from Ryu's grip with sheer strength alone, so he immediately strengthened his tornado, and summoned another sword of wind in his other arm, and swung at Ryu's arm.
As Tokugawa visualized the punch coming at him like a bullet, Tokugawa slightly moved his head in order to dodge. At the same time, Ryu suddenly let go of his grip as soon as his jab was about to make an impact.
*Bang!*
*Swish!*
Ryu's fist reached Tokugawa's cheek, but Tokugawa had managed to lessen the impact by moving his head a bit to the side, causing the fist to hit only a portion of his cheek before flowing past his head. Although he wasn't able to dodge it entirely, he had still managed to mitigate the damage. However, that punch still contained ferocious strength, and despite the mitigated damage, it had still managed to tear off a chunk of Tokugawa's cheek, causing his teeth to be shown.
At the same time, Ryu hadn't been able to dodge the entirety of Tokugawa's slash, but he had been able to dodge the majority of it. Still, that sword was extremely fast and strong, and the tip of Ryu's index finger had been cleanly chopped off, causing a quite bit of blood to rush out due to the adrenaline.
Still, none of them batted an eye to their injuries. In the next moment, Tokugawa had closed off the wound with his body control, and Ryu didn't pay any attention to his finger tip being cut off.
As Tokugawa was about to throw another attack, he was immediately stunned for a moment with what Ryu had done next. In an instant, a broadsword, clean and pristine, appeared in Ryu's hand.
Tokugawa regained his composure quickly, and a cold light glinted in his eyes. He remembered Ryu had a technique to make his weapons disappear at will, even despite not having a space ring. It was natural that Ryu could summon them as well.
'Let's see just how powerful your swordsmanship is.'
Before Tokugawa could continue his next attack, Ryu had swung his sword at Tokugawa. Ryu was only a slight moment faster in initiating the attack, but with Tokugawa's speed, that moment was barely noticeable. Tokugawa immediately continued his attack, as Ryu's sword approached.
*Swish!*
Neither of their swords connected with each other and instead at the other's body. Tokugawa had managed to cut Ryu again, but like before, Ryu had been able to mitigate the damage, only causing a noticeable cut. Ryu's attack, however, was much worse, as it only brushed against Tokugawa's chest, and made a very shallow cut, much worse than when he attacked without a sword.
---
"Hmph!" Tokugawa ridiculed Ryu's swordsmanship in his mind. Although Ryu's sword swings were precise and powerful, and he was definitely experienced with the sword, it was still much inferior to Tokugawa's swordsmanship.
'No wonder you weren't using a sword before, your swordsmanship is much more lacking compared to your hand to hand martial arts!' Tokugawa thought, as he swung again, with Ryu doing the same thing.
*Swish!*
The same thing like before happened. Ryu had only made a small cut on Tokugawa's body, while Tokugawa's sword made a much better wound.
'He should switch back to his hand to hand martial arts very soon.' Tokugawa thought as he unleashed another attack. Although Ryu's swordsmanship was good, it was still at the level of an average martial artist. It was far inferior to his other martial arts, which rivaled even master hand-to-hand martial artists!
*Swish!*
But...
*Swish!*
Ryu hadn't...
*Swish!*
Switched back to his other martial arts.
*Swish!*
As dozens of exchanges were made, Tokugawa's mind became more and more anxious, until it finally caused his mind to freeze.
'What the hell is this?' Tokugawa thought worriedly. Ryu hadn't switched back to his normal martial arts, and instead continued using his sword. Tokugawa thought he was a fool for this, but he soon swallowed his insult as he noticed Ryu's swords becoming sharper, more precise, and stronger with each passing exchange. The previous shallow cuts Ryu had inflicted had become slowly deeper, more dangerous. Not only that, but with Ryu's amazing adaptability, Ryu had managed to mitigate more and more damage from Tokugawa's attack, until all the wounds that Tokugawa had inflicted now were extremely shallow.
*Swish!*
Tokugawa and Ryu swung both of their swords once more, but the results caused Tokugawa to feel extremely alarmed. Tokugawa's sword was barely able to cut Ryu's arm, only causing an extremely minor cut. Meanwhile, Ryu's attack had caused a much deeper cut, causing quite a bit of blood to gush out.
With a thought, Tokugawa closed the wound and unleashed another strike on Ryu. He wasn't allowed to show a moment of weakness, not a single gap, nor could he falter even a single movement. If he did, then Ryu would immediately take advantage of it, and utterly destroy Tokugawa.
Both of them continued to exchange attacks with each other, causing numerous wounds to appear on both of their bodies. Yet, they didn't stop. They both continued, trying their best to dodge the other's attack, and unleash an attack of their own.
Ryu, with his stupidly strong instincts and muscle strength, and Tokugawa with his amazing speed that was far faster than Ryu.
This, was a battle of pure instincts versus pure speed.
Neither one showed a moment of weakness and tried to use their advantages to the fullest.
As Tokugawa and Ryu continued to exchange attacks, Tokugawa's mind slowly turned cold. Ryu's adaptability, amazing endurance, and disgusting strength, Tokugawa didn't focus on those things. Rather, his mind was completely focused on his visualization.
'When did this happen?' Tokugawa thought as he stared at Ryu's visualization in his mind. Ryu's stance, the way he held his sword, and his movements, all of them were familiar.
Tokugawa thought... he was looking at himself. Everything about Ryu mirrored Tokugawa. It wasn't just a mere imitation, either, but it looked like Ryu was truly Tokugawa himself. Every swing contained many ideas and was absolutely perfect.