With that, Aizen slowly drew his Zanpakutō from his waist and slashed fiercely toward the blueprint.
Seeing this, countless people's faces turned pale with shock. "What are you doing?!"
Some hot-headed ones even moved to stop him.
But just as the blade was about to pierce through the paper, it stopped abruptly, barely touching the surface.
"Heh heh heh…"
Aizen chuckled softly. "Relax. Let me show you a little magic trick first."
He held his sword upside down. A low hum vibrated from the blade, and faint blue light began to radiate from it.
"Its name is… Kyōka Suigetsu — Mirror Flower, Water Moon."
The moment the last word left his lips, everything froze.
Over forty thousand people in the entire auction hall stood perfectly still, as if struck by a paralysis spell, frozen in whatever posture they had been in.
The man in the baseball cap stared in utter shock. He looked left and right, suddenly realizing that every single person around him had turned like wooden statues, unmoving.
Then came the sound of footsteps. In the next instant, Aizen was standing right in front of him.
"Congratulations. You have won the blueprint of Pluton."
"Y-You… what did you do?!"
The man looked as if he had seen a ghost. "Time stop? No, that's not it. The Slow-Slow Fruit power? No, that's wrong too! What on earth is happening?!"
"Heh heh heh… Everything you see is nothing but illusion."
Aizen smiled and tossed the blueprint to him. "Hand over the Devil Fruits. The blueprint is yours now."
The man's expression shifted rapidly between doubt and wariness. He stared down at the paper in his hand, unable to tell if it was real or fake.
But knowing that the Phantom Alliance wouldn't risk swapping it at the last moment, he nodded. "Very well. However… we don't carry all ninety fruits with us right now."
In truth, the ninety fruits didn't belong to him alone — they were pooled from six different pirate crews. He himself only had fifteen on his person.
"I know. No single force in this world could gather ninety fruits at once… except for the World Government, of course."
Aizen spoke calmly. "Hand over what you have first. Then I'll send a Shadow Fiend with you. You can give the rest to it later."
As he spoke, a wisp of black smoke drifted over and solidified into the form of a fiend.
"Don't try anything clever. I'll have it merge into your shadow and watch your every move."
The Shadow Fiend let out a low chuckle, transformed back into smoke, and slipped silently into the man's shadow.
His eyes flashed. After a brief hesitation, the man took out the fruits he carried and handed them over.
Aizen counted and confirmed there were exactly fifteen, then waved his hand and stored them away instantly.
"Then… good luck to you."
With a smile, Aizen turned and left. He passed the fruits to Vladimir's main body, then returned to the central stage.
The very next second, time resumed its normal flow.
"Huh? Where's the blueprint?"
Sengoku's expression changed drastically. He widened his eyes and fixed his gaze sharply on Aizen.
From what he could sense, the blueprint had vanished from Aizen's hand in the blink of an eye.
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for attending this Grand Auction. The transaction is complete. Please, make your way out."
Aizen sheathed his sword, his eyes glinting with amusement and mockery.
"What?!"
The crowd erupted in shock. Thousands of pairs of eyes had been watching closely — yet not a single one had seen what had actually happened.
"What in the world… just happened?!"
From his throne, Vladimir stood up suddenly. He glanced briefly at the people in the private boxes, then turned and walked away.
Completing such a massive trade right in front of forty thousand people sounded unbelievable — but in truth, it was nothing more than a simple illusion.
With Kyōka Suigetsu combined with Manifest Illusion, almost no one present could detect the anomaly.
The Phantom Alliance had successfully delivered the blueprint of Pluton right under everyone's noses, bold and unchallenged.
There was, however, one person who had not been deceived.
He was a blind man with a thick black goatee, tall and broad-shouldered, wearing wooden clogs. Clad in a pale purple yukata with a dark purple sash, he held a wooden staff and sat quietly in a box on the second floor, completely still.
His name was Issho — one of the most famous great swordsmen in the world.
"Such terrifying illusions…" Issho murmured to himself, eyes still closed. "Over forty thousand people here, countless powerful experts… and not one could see through it. Not even understand what had taken place. It took someone like me — blind — to barely 'see' a glimmer of the truth."
This display of absolute stealth and mastery left him deeply shaken.
…
Truly unseen, truly undetected.
Of the forty thousand people present, only this one blind man had even a faint idea of what had happened.
All the other great powers were still looking around frantically, trying to figure out who had obtained the blueprint.
But the man in the cap was already being careful — he had quietly put it away long ago.
"All of you… leave now."
At that moment, the Archangel spoke in a calm, commanding tone. "The auction is over. No fighting is permitted within Zone 1. Violate this rule, and you make enemies of us all."
The Sea Dragon added in a booming voice: "That Golden Disk floating above the venue is our eye. Break the rules, and it will sound the alarm — and I will be the first to strike!"
With the two supreme rulers having spoken, all the factions fell silent. No one dared to provoke them.
One by one, the guests from all twelve private boxes departed.
____________________
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