Ryu's movements became more and more erratic. It was impossible to tell which direction he would go and when. Sometimes he chose the best option to dodge, sometimes the second best, and at other times the third. Sometimes he would attack rather than dodge at all, distorting the future path of the battle with a subtle grace. He would move up, and then abruptly downward. To the right, then suddenly up. To the left, and when it seemed he would change his trajectory again, he would continue, or even sometimes come to a complete stop.
When matched with the [Absolute Domain], to say that Ryu was easily ten times more powerful than when he came into this round wasn't an exaggeration at all, and this was the case when the Protector Spirits and their boost to his overall strength was ignored.
The drastic change made Ryu wonder how much more he had left to unearth, how much more strength was buried within him that he had ignored in favor of chasing after more talent.