Hidden Thoughts

"Hmm? What is it?"

Iroh noticed that Kahn was suddenly looking at him rather strangely.

"Nothing."

Kahn certainly did not dare voice his silent criticism. He would probably get a beating if he did.

He picked up where Iroh's earlier question had left off:

"I don't really think it matters, as long as peace comes as soon as possible. But objectively speaking, neither the Earth Kingdom nor the Water Tribe looks capable of winning, no matter how you look at it. The Fire Nation's victory is just a matter of time, isn't it?"

As someone who had transmigrated here, he felt no identification with or attachment to the Fire Nation, much less the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe, which, for him, still existed only in books.

Although aggression was absolutely wrong, it really was none of his business, and it was even less his place to intervene.

Besides, just as he had said, although the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe had always resisted fiercely, resisting was all they could do. They could not even counterattack, and by now, even their ability to resist seemed increasingly feeble before the Fire Nation.

Although the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe had taken advantage of the Fire Nation's two upheavals to reclaim considerable lost territory, that had merely prolonged the war. There was still no hope of any change in the outcome.

For example, looking at naval equipment alone, the Water Tribe's and Earth Kingdom's warships were still wooden sailing vessels, while the Fire Nation had long since replaced its entire fleet with steel steamships!

How were they supposed to fight against such an overwhelming technological advantage? By throwing their heads at it?

It was only because this world also possessed the miraculous power of bending that the two peoples could barely hold out by relying on favorable terrain. In every other respect, they simply did not measure up.

With that thought, Kahn glanced at Iroh again.

As the Fire Nation's supreme general who had only recently stepped down, Iroh could not possibly have been unaware of all this. So, once again-

Weren't you the one having the most fun fighting!?

Iroh knew nothing of Kahn's second round of silent criticism, but Kahn's words nevertheless left him silent.

Of course he knew all this, and he understood even better that what Kahn had said was indeed true, which only deepened his inner torment.

From his birth until now, his experiences, his knowledge of the world, everything he had seen and heard, and his moral outlook had determined that he was destined to spend his life giving of himself and struggling over this.

At that thought, Iroh glanced at Kahn, his eyes full of feeling.

No matter how clever Kahn was, or how much he spoke and thought like an adult, he was still a child, after all. He had never witnessed, experienced, or felt the suffering of this world. His heart was innocent, uncomprehending and ignorant; that must have been why he could have such simple thoughts.

How enviable.

Then again, had the Fire Nation's patriotic education been doing such a poor job lately that a nine-year-old child could actually care nothing for his own country?

Iroh glanced at Kahn again and felt that his assessment might have been somewhat unfair.

Perhaps this child himself was simply rather unusual. He could not put all the blame on the school.

Thinking this, Iroh could not resist rubbing Kahn's head.

Would this child bring something to the Fire Nation? And where would he lead it? Iroh felt a little anticipation.

"Could you stop touching my head all the time?"

Kahn once again slapped away Iroh's mischievous hand and rolled his eyes at him.

If Iroh kept polishing his head like that, what would he do if it went bald?!

"Hahahahaha!"

Iroh once again burst into laughter.

Although Kahn did not know Iroh's assessment of him, even if he had known this time, he probably would not have been able to refute it.

From Iroh's perspective, he truly was still a child, and he would rather spend this life continuing to be the sort of child Iroh described.

But that was probably impossible.

These chaotic times...

Ozai looked over the various reports before him, constantly turning all manner of plans over in his mind.

Naturally, his order for the army to resume its offensive had been driven by his impatient ambition to conquer the world, but its significance went far beyond that.

Launching this offensive served three purposes: first, to continue conquering the world and fulfill the ambitions he shared with generations of emperors; second, as he had just ascended the throne as the new emperor, he needed to demonstrate his capabilities publicly to reassure the people; third, to eliminate hidden dangers within the army.

As the former crown prince and former supreme general of the Fire Nation, Iroh had spent years building his influence in the army and commanded immense prestige. How could Ozai possibly fail to make plans?

Although he had already secretly purged quite a few traitors who supported Iroh and opposed him during this time, those who remained silent could not all have been people who understood which way the wind was blowing.

An icy smile appeared on Ozai's face.

In any case, to be safe, it would be best for all these former subordinates of Iroh's to die.

Still, it would be difficult for him to deal personally with people who had not openly opposed him, and doing so would be a thankless task. Why bother?

Since they were warriors, he would let them die properly on the battlefield and make their final contribution to the Fire Nation's great undertaking of unifying the world. When the time came, he would magnanimously let bygones be bygones and treat them as good soldiers who had laid down their lives for their country.

This, too, would be a gradual process, like a thin stream flowing on and on, because while sending off Iroh's former subordinates, he also had to cultivate a new batch of commanders to replace them. It could not be accomplished in a single leap.

Regardless, conquering the world was his ultimate goal. Every other measure served that end, and as long as he could reach that goal smoothly, a little compromise and forbearance were not beyond him.

Until his own subordinates had developed, he could let them die a little more slowly. That was his greatest concession.

After finishing the matters at hand, Ozai closed his eyes briefly to rest and began considering another matter: his current shortage of top-tier fighting power, including but not limited to his lack of Firebending Masters.

Firebending Masters were already as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns. At present, there were only two: Iroh and another general, Zhengzheng. This was because being judged a Firebending Master depended not only on combat strength, but even more on one's understanding of firebending itself.

He had no time to understand that sort of thing.

Setting aside the title of Firebending Master and looking purely at combat strength, he was no slouch himself, but he could hardly take the field in person.

However, Iroh went without saying, and Zhengzheng had chosen to remain silent when sides were being taken this time. Judging by his past experiences, though, that fellow probably was not on Ozai's side either.

In other words, he had absolutely no top-tier power at his disposal.

At present, the only person he could possibly count on was Azula.

Azula's talent, temperament, and intelligence satisfied him in every respect. With her talent, even if she could not become a Firebending Master, there would be no difference in her combat strength.

Most importantly, as she was his daughter, whom he had personally raised and trained, he had both the confidence and the means to ensure that Azula would never betray him.

Sure enough, only people he had cultivated himself and knew inside out could be trusted and thoroughly controlled.

But people worth cultivating like Azula were not easy to find, and he had neither the time nor the energy to spend so long gathering and training them again.

Still, Ozai was in no hurry. After all, the time for "that" to descend once more was drawing near.

Speaking of which.

Recently, he happened to have heard some more news about a genius like Azula-that commoner boy Kahn at Iroh's side...

"Father, you sent for me?"

Just then, Azula arrived.

Ozai opened his eyes, looked at Azula, and said casually:

"My dear daughter, I hear that boy named Kahn seems to have quite a talent for firebending. Iroh has even taken him as his disciple."

"Do you know about this?"