Since the palace upheaval, and after several twists and turns, they finally obtained a crucial clue to Ursa's whereabouts—her hometown, Hira'a.
However, at this point, their investigation had to temporarily halt.
The reason was simple: Hira'a was a small, remote town in the Fire Nation, and to investigate, they would have to go there in person.
But neither Kahn, Azula, nor Zuko were in any position to leave the Imperial Capital.
Even Azula was helpless. After a fit of impotent rage, she reluctantly gave up and decided to wait for the right moment.
And this wait lasted for more than a year.
The Fire Nation was currently engaged in an all-out war against the entire world, yet domestic life remained peaceful and prosperous—something Kahn found almost surreal.
During the war, Fire Lord Ozai did not forget to continue sidelining Iroh.
According to information Azula overheard, almost all of the Fire Nation's generals had been replaced.
Iroh had indeed been reduced to a retired old man no one paid attention to.
However, Ozai's plans weren't entirely smooth.
A Rear Admiral named Jeong Jeong, dissatisfied with the situation, defected and fled. His whereabouts remained unknown, causing a major uproar.
Because of this incident, Iroh—smiling broadly—was kicked out of the council chamber by Ozai, looking unusually pleased with himself.
Jeong Jeong had been one of the Fire Nation's extremely rare Firebending Masters and a Rear Admiral, meaning he likely had some connection with Iroh.
Unfortunately, when Kahn asked him about it, Iroh simply replied with cryptic lines and then smiled without explaining further, like the old riddle-teller he was.
Over the past year, Iroh had also fully transformed—going from a muscular, imposing general to a pot-bellied, benevolent old man.
Combined with his gray hair, he now looked less like Ozai's brother and more like his uncle.
But anyone who mistook Iroh's appearance for weakness would be making a fatal error.
Despite Kahn's rapid improvement over the year, he had not won a single spar against Iroh.
Even though they used the same techniques and their raw power was roughly comparable, Iroh could always smile and effortlessly neutralize Kahn's attacks.
Kahn could never grasp the limits of Iroh's strength.
This was a true Firebending Master. When it came to understanding fire and Firebending, Iroh stood on a level Kahn couldn't yet hope to reach.
What else was there to say? Keep practicing.
The only relatively dangerous incident during this period happened when Ozai suddenly remembered Kahn during the New Year and summoned him to see the results of Azula's "subversion."
Fortunately, after spending so much time with Azula, Kahn's acting skills had improved significantly. With Azula's cooperation, they successfully bluffed their way through.
Afterward, he secretly cursed Ozai for three days and three nights.
Aside from that, life remained relatively peaceful.
He delved deeper into Firebending, learned Chi Blocking, read books, and occasionally found ways to amuse himself. Without noticing, he had already turned twelve.
Kou Li stayed at the Capital for less than a school year. Once things stabilized around Yu Island, her mother immediately took her home.
No matter how safe the Capital was, for them, it would always feel like living abroad. Yu Island was their true home.
Honestly, if not for protecting Kou Li, her mother would've preferred staying with her husband.
He had no Firebending talent and was an ordinary civilian—if danger came, she was far more capable of fighting than he was.
Kahn, one of Kou Li's few friends, personally sent them off on their departure day.
Kou Li, uncharacteristically, didn't act like her usual tomboyish self and instead looked reluctant and shy, which was rare for him to see.
After a bit of teasing and playful banter, the sadness of parting eased.
Before saying goodbye, they invited him once again to visit Yu Island someday. Kahn naturally agreed.
By age twelve or thirteen, the Fire Nation's six-year compulsory education was nearly over.
After that, most students would either inherit family businesses, join the military, find work, or start integrating into society—becoming another cog in the machine.
They could also pursue higher education, but competition was intense.
Still, graduating guaranteed a respectable future and provided one of the few political pathways available to commoners.
Kahn had no intention of continuing his studies.
Politics meant little to him, and besides—belonging to the imperial circle meant becoming an official was only a word away.
Most of his classmates were children of high-ranking nobles and officials, and few planned to continue studying.
Only the academic elites chose that path.
The bolder ones planned to join safer branches of the military as junior officers to gain experience.
Most expected to follow their parents' arrangements afterward.
And the laziest intended to simply live off their families for life. All of them, in their own ways, had bright futures.
As the saying goes: "All roads lead to Rome, but some people are born in Rome." Very true.
Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee hadn't changed much—other than growing taller, prettier, and significantly stronger.
Azula, however… was hard to describe.
It wasn't that she wasn't pretty. Her masculine attire and terrible personality simply made the contrast with Mai and Ty Lee painfully obvious.
Kahn had complained about this many times. If she bothered to dress up a little, she would look beautiful.
But Azula was inexplicably confident in her appearance and refused to listen. Every time he mentioned it, she picked a fight with him.
Can't afford to offend her. Can't save her. Goodbye.
Zuko, meanwhile, was trying to become more composed. The results weren't amazing, but at least he was trying.
He claimed that after turning twelve, he could officially begin learning about and participating in state affairs.
As the future Fire Lord, he had to start becoming reliable.
Of course, that didn't stop him from flying into impotent rage whenever Azula provoked him.
His writing journey was rough.
Coming from a world of keyboards, writing by hand was slow torture.
But after much grinding, his work became a massive success and earned him his first pot of gold in this life—congratulations.
The Monkey King once again became the childhood idol of a generation, and Kahn even gained a bit of national fame, fulfilling a childhood dream.
But these were all just colorful decorations in his life. In a world this dangerous, what mattered most was Firebending and strengthening himself.
Over the past year, Kahn's progress had been rapid.
Not only did he fully master all Firebending techniques, he also began integrating them together—enough to make Iroh call him a monster.
Even Azula had fallen slightly behind him.
A year ago, Azula had seemed invincible to him. Now, she was no longer so unreachable.
And as his age and strength grew, the moment finally drew near—
The opportunity to travel outside the Capital.
...
Author's Note
I've created a second Webnovel account under the name Shadow_demon_007A2.
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— Shadow_demon_007