It was a rare opportunity to be brought out by Uncle Iroh.
Zuko took the key Iroh gave him and headed straight for Kahn's house.
As for Uncle Iroh, he seed to be going off to find soone to play Pai Sho with and did not return with him.
Drinking tea, playing Pai Sho, and enjoying music—this was Uncle Iroh's ordinary retired life, and he genuinely enjoyed it, finding nothing wrong with it.
As soon as he entered, he saw his friend sitting cross-legged beneath a tree in the courtyard.
However, although his posture resembled ditation, his head was tilted to one side, and his body was slack.
Along with the steady sound of breathing, it was clear he had fallen asleep.
"Kahn, what are you doing?"
Hearing Zuko's voice, Kahn startled awake and instantly resud a proper posture.
With his eyes closed, he pretended to be deeply ditating and replied,
"I'm ditating, can't you tell?"
"...But you were just asleep, weren't you?
Why did you suddenly start ditating?"
"Because it's a fundantal skill, and the ditative state helps with thinking," Kahn answered casually, pretending not to hear the first part of Zuko's question.
He thought Iroh's suggestion was quite good, because his situation was essentially that of a late bloor.
When he arrived in this world, the original body had already passed the stage of practicing basic skills.
Although he relied on his exceptional talent to quickly inherit the previous owner's abilities after gaining their mories, advancing rapidly while maintaining a solid foundation, there still seed to be a slight gap in his fundantals.
So he decided to begin with ditation, to re-experience the cultivation of basic skills while also contemplating the developnt of firebending.
He had not expected to accidentally fall asleep.
He wasn't sure whether ditation helped with thinking, but it certainly seed helpful for sleep, though he woke up with aches all over his body.
"You've already started training to beco a firebending master," Zuko exclaid with envy after hearing the full explanation.
However, he was already used to it.
After all, he had been overshadowed by Azula since childhood, and now Kahn was simply added to the list.
No big deal.
Zuko comforted himself this way.
He quickly regained his energy, picking up a leaf from the ground and saying,
"Speaking of basic skills, I think this one is more interesting."
As he spoke, the center of the leaf began to smoke slightly, then started to burn.
But that was all.
It did not erupt into full flas.
It burned from the center outward, and after creating a large hole in the middle, the burning stopped at the edges.
It neither consud the entire leaf nor extinguished itself completely, as if ti had frozen at that mont, looking incredibly magical.
"Oh, that."
Kahn's mind recalled scenes of his younger self training.
This was a thod to refine a firebender's control, ensuring they would not harm themselves when using bending in the future.
He beca interested as well, picking up a leaf and making it burn slowly.
When it reached its limit, he maintained it, leaving only a thin line at the edge of the leaf.
Even the slightest excess would have burned it completely, showcasing his remarkable precision.
In terms of control over fire alone, Kahn could perhaps already be considered a master.
However, he was more interested in sothing else.
This thod of burning did not seem like simple firebending.
It felt more like controlling heat itself, as he had previously imagined.
As he had ntioned before, fire is the manifestation of light and heat released during combustion.
Setting aside the possibility of controlling light, this alone already excited Kahn.
Theory was one thing, reality another.
He knew it would be difficult to realize all his ideas, but even one becoming reality revealed vast possibilities.
Could this be the starting point Iroh wanted him to focus on?
He could not guess Iroh's thoughts, but he had already decided that, no matter what, his first step in researching and developing firebending would begin here.
Zuko did not stay long before leaving.
It was not that Kahn was rushing him out, but Zuko had to hurry to et Mai.
He had very little free ti each day now, so he had to make the most of it.
Under such circumstances, being able to spare ti to visit at all was already quite sothing.
Tsk.
Kahn clicked his tongue in disdain.
Speaking of which, not only Zuko, but Azula also seed to have beco busy.
He had not seen much of her lately.
Considering what she had said before, she was probably diligently training that secret technique.
It seed he also needed to work hard, at least to maintain his current strength and avoid being surpassed by Azula.
He returned inside and brought out a glass of cold water.
Conducting experints indoors was still too dangerous.
Recalling the flow of chi in his body when burning the leaf, he carefully directed that energy into the glass of water.
After a while, steam began to rise from the glass, and soon the water started to boil.
A glass of cold water had been successfully heated into scalding boiling water by him.
It really worked.
The success of the first experint reignited Kahn's enthusiasm.
He imdiately began the next experint.
Bending ant control.
If it could only impart heat, then its value would be greatly limited.
Kahn tried to control the heat within the glass as if he were controlling fire.
When he felt it was about right, he carefully touched the glass.
It was not hot.
He picked up the glass.
The surface felt cool to the touch, yet the water inside continued to boil vigorously.
It worked, and unexpectedly smoothly.
So smoothly that it almost felt unreal.
Although he knew his talent was extraordinary, wasn't this a bit too much?
Could it really be this simple?
Amid his excitent, a trace of doubt flickered in Kahn's mind, but he quickly dismissed it.
He continued his experints, filled with enthusiasm.
In the evening, perhaps because sothing pleasant had happened, Iroh seed to be in a particularly good mood.
After returning ho cheerfully, he found a steaming cup of tea already prepared beside Kahn.
This made him even happier.
"Did you calculate when I would return and prepare this specifically for ?"
"Yes, I did."
Kahn responded with a bright smile.
Iroh picked up the tea and took a satisfied sip.
Kahn had been with him for so long, yet his tea-making skills were still rather average.
It seed all his talent had gone into firebending.
Even so, Iroh drank it happily.
After all, it had been prepared specially for him.
This child had not been taught in vain.
Truly thoughtful.
In his pleasant mood, Iroh did not notice that Kahn's smile today was different from usual.
It was exactly like the smile Azula wore when she was about to play a trick.
"Uncle Iroh, today I made so new discoveries in firebending, and I'd like to show them to you."
"New discoveries?"
Iroh's attention was still on the tea, but his interest was piqued.
At that mont, Kahn extended his hand and made a pulling motion toward the cup in Iroh's hand.
At the sa ti, the temperature of the tea dropped rapidly, freezing into ice at a visible speed.
"This is…?"
The sudden chill from the teacup made Iroh shiver.
Looking at the frost-covered cup, the astonishnt in his eyes was unmistakable.
Kahn had once again shattered his expectations.
But more than shock or praise, the first thing Iroh said was—
"You disobedient student!
Hurry up and unfreeze my tea!"
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