Though he had no idea what secret technique made Azula so confident, he was quite confident himself now, thanks to the Bending he had mastered lately.
And so, the two equally confident people went to the training grounds for their first spar in a long while.
Then-
"What the hell is that?!"
Watching the terrifying fireball she had launched suddenly shrink in midair into a cute little fireball, Azula was utterly baffled. She could not understand it.
Kahn laughed without answering and mixed the extracted thermal energy into his own flames, making them even more powerful. Caught off guard, Azula could only scramble aside in a rather undignified dodge.
Azula soon discovered that it was not just that one fireball. Any Firebending she used against Kahn would inexplicably weaken, while his flames would suddenly grow stronger. Even a ghost would know something was wrong here.
But no matter how she racked her brains, she could not figure out how he did it.
This is cheating!
Azula cursed inwardly, but there was still nothing she could do.
She had intended to make Kahn suffer with her new technique, only to suffer a setback herself, leaving her in a thoroughly foul mood.
Meanwhile, Kahn wore a satisfied smile.
Although Thermal Bending had not achieved the terrifying effect he had envisioned, it was still formidable, especially against Firebenders.
Just as he had done moments ago, he could use Bending to extract thermal energy from an opponent's flames, weakening their attacks, then add the extracted thermal energy to his own attacks to strengthen them.
With one side waning as the other waxed, the gap between them became astonishing, just as it had now-
Originally, he and Azula had been evenly matched, but with Thermal Bending bolstering him, Azula found even fighting back somewhat difficult!