This is enough to be called a Firebending Master?
Is this all a Firebending Master is?
Kahn just assumed Iroh was teasing him.
But Iroh saw right through it and chuckled, "From the minimum standard, yes, you could say that."
Seriously?
Kahn's mouth twitched. "Then this kind of Master is too worthless, isn't he? And if that's the case, then most Firebenders in this world are idiots—since so few can even meet such a simple standard."
"It would be better said that people like you are the extreme minority." Iroh spoke slowly, "Besides, you're judging them wrongly."
He continued, "Most Firebenders aren't studying bending to explore its essence or its possibilities. They're researching which angle of attack kills the fastest, which combination of moves will strike before the opponent can blink.
They study Earthbending from other nations not to understand parallels between disciplines, but to find the Earth Kingdom's weaknesses and figure out how to kill their enemies in one blow."
"Those people may not be Firebending Masters… but they are certainly masters of killing."
Kahn felt the excitement in his chest cool instantly.
It really was like Iroh had installed a bug in his brain—just as he was starting to get cocky, one sentence reset his ego.
And he had to admit: Iroh wasn't wrong.
Even if he did reach the so-called level of a Firebending Master, that didn't automatically place him at the peak of the world.
Those Firebenders who built their entire life around perfect killing techniques… who could guarantee he could beat them?
Good thing Iroh caught his arrogance early.
So, after properly cooling down, Kahn returned to Firebending research with renewed humility.
And after his previous breakthrough, his confidence soared—he no longer needed Iroh's step-by-step guidance.
Before, he had ideas but didn't know how to start.
It was a weird "first-world researcher" problem, but also the anxiety of a beginner afraid to fail. Iroh had guided him through that, gently and effectively.
Kahn had run into roadblocks like that many times over the years, and Iroh had solved every single one. He couldn't help but think again:
Having a good teacher was absolutely priceless.
Azula Busy, Zuko Restless
Azula was still mysteriously busy.
Zuko, however, had become unusually free—he had finished his basic studies and earned a rare long vacation before starting the advanced training reserved for a future Crown Prince.
With Mai and Ty Lee still stuck in regular classes, Zuko had no one else to bother, so he ended up pestering Kahn all day.
Sigh.
But since Kahn had nothing urgent going on, he decided to teach Zuko the Thermal Energy Firebending he had developed.
He didn't think Zuko had the talent to be a "Master," but since they were good friends, he figured he could at least let Zuko experience what mastering something felt like.
As Iroh predicted, in Zuko's hands the technique wasn't a deadly secret art—it barely worked well enough for household use.
Mostly things like warming blankets, cooling tea, or boiling water. A home-economics version of Firebending.
But then Kahn demonstrated its true power in front of Zuko, explaining that with enough hard work, Zuko could someday achieve the same.
Zuko believed him instantly and threw himself into training.
And honestly, Kahn wasn't lying. With enough effort, Zuko really could achieve something impressive… probably.
Either way, Kahn felt very righteous about "raising his friend's strength." If word spread, surely people would admire him for being such a supportive friend.
He admired himself enough.
The Age Problem
Although he and Zuko were roughly the same age, Kahn had always viewed Zuko as a quantum superposition of best friend and silly little brother.
Not out of contempt—where he came from, every boy wanted to be his friend's dad. Completely normal.
Then he found out Zuko was actually half a year older.
Kahn: twelve.
Zuko: thirteen.
Who on earth would believe that?
Fortunately, simple-minded Zuko never noticed any of Kahn's weird internal monologues and treated him sincerely as his best friend.
After a few calm days, Zuko got restless again.
Suddenly he awakened a sense of responsibility as the future Fire Lord and decided to use his vacation to "understand the country."
Kahn, a proud slacker, absolutely could not understand the Crown Prince mindset.
But knowing Zuko's personality, he wasn't worried—Zuko rarely caused real trouble.
So Kahn ignored the prince's new mission and continued diving deeper into Firebending research.
He came up with all sorts of interesting applications.
For example, releasing compressed flames to create classic explosion effects.
With precision control, he could even make the explosion feel like a homing attack.
The drawbacks were obvious:
• compression speed was slow
• the target was obvious
• focusing on compression reduced awareness, turning him into a sitting duck
He brainstormed improvements.
Using meditation to compress flames?
Sure—concentration increased, compression sped up.
But that also turned him into a stationary target, which seemed even more suicidal.
Still… if timed right, it would look insanely cool.
He also tried compressing at the center of his brow to shorten the signal transmission distance—basically imitating Erlang Shen's third eye.
It looked badass, but the flame compression glow was way too obvious.
Then he wondered:
What if I compress the flame before it forms? As pure heat…?
One experiment led to another.
And Kahn reached a firm conclusion:
Meditation is god-tier.
It calmed the mind, sharpened concentration, allowed deep thinking, and even after hours of brainstorming, he didn't feel tired—unless he slipped into sleep.
It was the perfect assistant for insane research.
No wonder powerful figures in fantasy worlds all loved meditation.
Wait…
He liked meditation.
Powerful people liked meditation.
Therefore…
He = Powerful Person?!
Kahn immediately felt enlightened.
And the more he meditated, the more he sensed something profound, as though he was grasping the true essence of meditation itself.
Then, without warning…
He had an out-of-body experience.
"…?"
Staring at his own body sitting cross-legged below him, Kahn was completely stunned.
...
Author's Note:
The full completed version of Avatar: Rebirth of the Strongest Firebender — Part 1 Completed (ATLA) is now on Patreon!
🔗 patreon.com/Shadow_demon_007
Thank you for your support! 💙
...
Sorry for not uploading chapters regularly. I'm currently studying for my semester exams, so chapter upload times may vary for now.
From next month onward, chapters will be uploaded on time. Thank you for your patience and support.