The impact of Iroh and Zuko's defection was far smaller than Kahn had initially expected, but it was not nonexistent.
At the very least, Kahn suddenly found himself under close surveillance.
The soldiers assigned to watch him were skilled and discreet, but to Kahn, who had achieved so success in spiritbending, the gazes fixed on him felt like scorching heat.
They were not only obvious, but deeply uncomfortable.
And before spirit sight, no matter how refined their concealnt thods were, they looked no different from people standing openly in front of him.
Thus, what had originally been secret and strict surveillance felt to Kahn more like being brazenly watched by a group of burly n.
That chilling experience nearly made him want to get rid of the observers altogether.
Fortunately, he did not go out often.
Under these circumstances, staying ho and focusing on cultivation was not a bad choice.
The only pity was that he had originally planned to continue training with Guru Pathik, but now it seed that would have to be postponed.
This was clearly Ozai's doing.
That old bastard had always been especially good at being irritating.
It was obvious that Iroh and Zuko's defection had badly rattled Ozai's nerves, causing Kahn to fall under heavy suspicion once more.
It had even reached the point where people were assigned to monitor him closely.
Azula, however, seed completely unrestricted and could still visit him as usual, as though nothing had happened.
After another sparring session, Kahn was still cleaning up the training ground, while Azula had quietly slipped away to a nearby pavilion to enjoy snacks by herself.
The sight made a vein throb on Kahn's forehead.
He said, speechless,
"Does your conscience truly not ache?"
Azula shrugged.
"Of course not."
"I have to deal with you and secretly gather intelligence."
"I'm already working hard enough, so shouldn't you help wipe the floor?"
Kahn gave a dry laugh.
"Coming here to play with counts as 'dealing with ,' and watching the show in the war room counts as 'gathering intelligence,' right?"
"Mm-hmm."
Hearing this, Azula could not help the smile that curled at her lips.
She suppressed her laughter and argued with perfect seriousness.
"How can you say that?"
"Besides, I also have to trick information out of you."
While Kahn was under surveillance, Ozai had also given Azula an order.
She was to probe Kahn and find out whether he knew anything about Iroh's defection plan, whether he had any special intelligence, and so on.
Of course, the result was predictable.
Compared to Kahn, who had been heavily restricted during this period, Azula was undoubtedly much freer.
After all, Ozai had been busy dealing with Iroh lately.
anwhile, after so ti passed, Iroh finally reappeared in the Spirit World and contacted Kahn.
Kahn carefully looked Iroh over, confird that he had no obvious injuries, and finally relaxed.
"We are currently in a hidden White Lotus stronghold."
"It is very safe."
Iroh first reported his safety to Kahn, who then asked,
"Where's Zuko?"
"Haha, don't worry."
"He is bouncing around as if he has endless energy."
Iroh laughed heartily.
"You do not need to worry too much about him."
"After everything he has experienced these past few years, he has already matured."
"Is that so?"
"Then I'll confirm it myself."
Kahn smiled as well, sowhat looking forward to seeing Zuko again.
To him, Zuko was a friend, like a younger brother, and sotis even like an adopted dog-son.
With those images in mind, it was difficult for him to imdiately imagine Zuko becoming mature.
Iroh briefly recounted their experience.
After deciding on their plan of action, he had first told Zuko everything.
Zuko had taken a long ti to digest such an enormous amount of information.
Fortunately, after everything he had gone through, Zuko had already seen Ozai's true nature clearly.
Although he was still sowhat shocked by such a sudden plan, he quickly prepared himself ntally.
Especially when he heard that he would be returning to see Ursa, Zuko agreed without hesitation.
Hearing this, Kahn nodded with satisfaction.
From that point alone, Zuko had grown a great deal since leaving.
Their escape plan had been simple.
Iroh had endured for so many years that even Ozai believed he had been broken and was incapable of doing anything threatening.
In fact, it was not only Ozai who thought so.
Even the army traveling with them believed the sa.
Because of that, by now, the soldiers' supervision of them had beco quite lax, never imagining that they would suddenly defect.
Thus, when Iroh and Zuko quietly chose to escape in the middle of the night, not a single soldier noticed anything unusual.
However, for safety's sake, they wandered through the wilderness for several more days.
Only after eting up with the White Lotus did they truly relax.
Hearing this, Kahn suddenly felt that Iroh's patience was a little like an old king pretending to bow and endure humiliation until even his enemies believed he had truly beco harmless.
Then, at the critical mont, he would deliver a fatal blow and reverse the entire situation.
After Iroh finished recounting their experience, he asked Kahn,
"Do you have any news on your side?"
Kahn replied,
"Ozai has suppressed the news of your defection."
"It's said he is preparing to send a specialized force to capture you."
"Also, I've been under surveillance during this period."
Hearing this, Iroh beca sowhat concerned.
"Surveillance?"
"Are you alright?"
"No major problems."
Kahn waved his hand and smiled.
"Ozai is just panicking and grasping at straws."
"He hasn't found any evidence."
"With our thod of communication, how could he, an ordinary person, possibly notice anything unusual?"
Ozai, an ordinary person?
Although Iroh knew Kahn ant that Ozai was ordinary compared to spiritbenders like them, the description still successfully made him laugh, and he felt sowhat relieved.
Then he began considering Ozai's plan to deal with him.
"He has suppressed the news and sent a specialized search force, then?"
These decisions were within Iroh's expectations.
Suppressing the news was naturally ant to stabilize the people and the army.
But it also made their own movents more convenient.
As for the specialized search force, that was indeed sothing they needed to watch carefully.
Because he and Zuko would be acting separately next.
Iroh himself would be fine, but Zuko might face considerable pressure.
At that mont, Kahn said,
"Maybe I can offer so help."
"No."
" and East, South, West, and North."
Although he was being watched, no matter how skilled those soldiers were, they could not see spirits.
He could et Zuko in astral form while riding Four Directions.
That would undoubtedly be much safer and more convenient.
Iroh considered it for a mont, then agreed to the plan.
Although this was originally supposed to be an opportunity for Zuko to temper himself, under such urgent circumstances, caution was better.
Iroh told Kahn their location.
Without further delay, Kahn would go et them tomorrow.
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