This is truly extraordinary.
Whoever manages to gain a foothold here on the Sabaody Archipelago is hardly an ordinary person.
This auction house also has powerful backers behind it.
And yet, they still can't figure out who exactly this blind swordsman is?
But regardless of where he comes from or who he really is—
To be openly challenged and humiliated like this… this matter will certainly not end quietly.
The power behind this auction house should surely step in and act now.
The dealers and traders who make their living here are all seasoned veterans. They see right through the situation with piercing clarity.
And in fact, Lord El himself has come precisely because of this incident.
…
"So it's you—blocking the entrance and disrupting honest business… you're the one, aren't you?!"
Donquixote Doflamingo had now laid eyes on the blind swordsman standing before the auction house gate.
Hmm—definitely not any master he had encountered before.
It seemed this man had somehow acquired immense strength out of nowhere and now fancied himself a hero, rushing in to play the part of justice.
Of course Doflamingo knew all too well that this auction house—once operating under his name—dealt in many shady, unspeakable businesses.
And this "righteous" blind man standing before him clearly loathed every bit of it…
Though naturally, there was far more to this than what met the eye…
"You are…"
The middle-aged man, his sight lost to injury, tapped his cane lightly against the ground.
"Who sent you?!"
Doflamingo wasted no words, cutting straight to the heart of the matter.
That was exactly what he thought.
Right now, he suspected someone had sent this blind man to cause trouble for him.
Or at the very least, someone had manipulated the man's so-called sense of justice and kindness to use him as a pawn.
In Doflamingo's eyes, this stranger was merely a weapon being wielded by another.
"Sent? No one sent this old man…"
"I only heard the cries and wails of those poor souls trapped inside this auction house."
The blind man planted his cane firmly on the ground. Though he could not see, he turned his face directly toward where Doflamingo stood.
"Hmph…"
Doflamingo curled his lip in disdain, utterly unconvinced.
This fool put on quite a brave front, didn't he?
Let's see how long that bravado lasts!
"You come here uninvited to provoke me… do not expect me to hold back!"
Doflamingo let out a cold, mocking laugh.
Even if Lord El valued this blind man highly—if he could not even withstand a fraction of Doflamingo's own power, surely Lord El would lose all interest and regard for him.
"Let me test your mettle!"
Using the power of his String-String Fruit, Doflamingo hooked onto the treetops high above and launched himself into the air, hovering overhead.
He intended to strike down from above!
"This old man… is Issho!"
The blind man raised his cane horizontally, and in one smooth motion, drew a blade hidden within it.
"…So you're a Devil Fruit user too!"
And not just any Devil Fruit user, it seemed.
Issho's Observation Haki must have been trained to an astonishing level!
Though completely blind, it did not hinder his daily life in the slightest—nor did it limit him in fierce combat.
That alone spoke volumes about how refined his Observation Haki had become.
Suspended in the air, Doflamingo sent countless strings whirling outward.
They sliced through the air, shimmering in strange, vivid hues—beautiful to behold, yet carrying deadly, razor-sharp force.
Back when the Donquixote Family still stood, Doflamingo had built his pirate crew into a force that dominated an entire nation.
That required both sharp intellect and careful strategy—but without his own overwhelming power, such a massive organization could never have held together.
Doflamingo was, without doubt, a master fighter in his own right.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A rapid series of ringing sounds echoed out.
One by one, Issho blocked every incoming string shot from above using his drawn sword.
Doflamingo's strings were incredibly sharp and fast—striking with more force than musket balls, and even if they missed, their cutting edge alone was enough to overwhelm most opponents.
But now, facing Issho, the power Doflamingo had always prided himself on seemed far less effective than usual.
"Tch…" Doflamingo narrowed his eyes.
"Such powerful Armament Haki…"
It was Issho's hardened Armament Haki that had deflected the strings.
His entire body—or at least every surface facing his enemy—was coated in dense, impenetrable Armament Haki.
Even the destructive force of Doflamingo's String-String Fruit could not make the slightest dent.
On the surface, the String-String Fruit did not seem like a power suited for direct combat.
But a Devil Fruit's true value depended entirely on how well its user developed it.
And Doflamingo was a genius when it came to unlocking his fruit's full potential.
In his hands, the String-String Fruit had been mastered to perfection—used not only for devastating attacks but also for countless practical functions.
He could anchor his strings anywhere, even tie them to clouds to glide through the sky almost as if flying.
He could also manipulate others weaker than himself, forcing them to act against their will—a trick that had proven extremely useful.
In fact, it was his complete mastery of this power that had allowed the Donquixote Family to seize control of Dressrosa in the first place.
His confidence in his own strength was forged through countless real battles.
Yet the man standing opposite him was no ordinary foe either.
Issho was also a Paramecia-type user, having eaten the Gravity-Gravity Fruit—granting him absolute control over gravity itself.
His power was not to be underestimated.
As Doflamingo swooped down from above like a bird of prey, he suddenly felt his body slip out of his control.
Everything around him no longer behaved as he expected.
He had meant to descend toward the blind swordsman below, intending to slice him to ribbons with his strings—
But now…
The entire ground beneath Issho seemed to surge upward, rushing straight toward Doflamingo!
With the power to alter gravity, Issho could easily reshape the very terrain.
And right now, he was lifting the ground beneath both himself and his opponent, raising it upward at will.
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