Chapter 45: Agni Kai
"Remember your firebending basics, Prince Zuko. They are your greatest weapons."
Zuko, who was kneeling in front of his uncle, smirked. "I've faced someone way more dangerous than this in the past."
The Prince stood up and turned around, facing his opponent who mirrored his movements on the other side of the arena.
The sky was dyed a shade of sunset red, and a few patrol soldiers are around the arena doing their job. In the big arena there are only 2 shirtless men today, the young teen with a ponytail and the middle-aged man with sideburns.
One of the Fire Nation soldiers standing on higher grounds, seeing that the duo has readied themselves for battle, rang a large gong.
Both take on Firebending stances.
Beams of fire fly through the arena back and forth as both men keep their distance. Zuko kept his overly aggressive Firebending stance, putting himself in disadvantageous positions to increase his battle prowess.
Zhao, on the other hand, was fighting steadily, almost like an Earthbender, he was stable and simply deflected every attack or dodge with minimal effort.
Zuko kept jumping and doing exaggerated movements that cost his stamina and breath, in less than five minutes of battle he was already breathing hard.
'No… This is not how it should've been!' thought Zuko, dodging a well-aimed fire blast from Zhao. 'I trained to be better than this!' he looked around and saw his uncle's mouth moving like he was trying to say something to him but Zuko couldn't hear it.
'Teacher…'
Zuko's eyes narrowed and his pupils contracted.
Abandoning his Firebending stance, he lowered his body and dashed towards Zhao.
Both Iroh and Zhao were shocked by that change.
One fire blast after another, Zhao tried his best to hit the Prince that abandoned the offensive completely.
Zuko dodged the first by sliding on the ground, and the second he managed to jump above.
'Those movements…' Zhao's eyes trembled as flashbacks came to him, he was completely out of it for a second.
'This is it!' Zuko thought as he aimed a compressed fireball directly toward Zhao's legs.
Caught off guard, Zhao retreats clumsily, which didn't escape Zuko's sight.
Using it to press his advantage, Zuko kept aiming at Zhao's legs.
Slowly Zhao lost the complete momentum he had in this duel, Zuko kept preventing him from stabilizing his stance, getting closer and closer.
When the Commander finally took the wrong step, Zuko ignited two massive blasts of fire, one from each fist, aiming for the flanks of the middle-aged man.
Zhao was forced to land in an awkward position to defend himself, spreading his arms to his sides to protect his flanks, but his eyes went wide when he saw a third and even bigger blast of fire coming out of the Prince's foot, in a straight line towards his body.
There was no time to react, no way to dodge, he was still in that awkward position that didn't enable him to deflect.
The wave of fire hit him head-on, he could feel his skin burning, and he could feel the pain that reminded him of certain events in the past that he did his all to overcome and forget.
When Zhao finally landed on the ground, breathing heavily, weakened, and with smoke surrounding his body, he stared at Zuko with wrath. "Do it… " he said challengingly.
Zuko, who stood in front of the defeated commander simply burned the ground right beside Zhao's face, there was no doubt in his actions.
"YOU COWARD!" Shouted Zhao "No wonder your father cast you out!"
Zuko simply stared at him like he was worth nothing and like he was nothing, which pissed Zhao off even more. Turning around slowly, Zuko said his parting words. "Your life is not mine to take, but don't worry… Your time will come."
As Zuko was walking toward his uncle, Zhao used all the strength he had left to lift himself and aim a blast of fire at Zuko's back.
Iroh was already on his way to intercept it, but Zuko was faster.
He lifted one of his feet behind his back, similar to how Aang would do to Ozai during their final confrontation, and made the fire spread up. One thing he learned from Madara was to never lower his guard even after achieving victory, that lesson was branded on his very soul!
Then with the same foot, he landed a heavy blow to Zhao's ribs and a loud crack could be heard as the Commander was tossed like a ragdoll through the arena.
"Disgraceful." It was not Iroh who said it, it was Zuko himself. "Even in exile, I have more honor than you ever did…" He couldn't help but grin when he finished his words. "Is this the standards of our Nation, commander?"
Iroh's eyes went wide, he trembled from head to toe. A small tear came from one of the old General's eyes and he couldn't help but smile widely.
"P-prince Zuko…" he said.
The teen turned to his uncle and gave him a gentle smile. "Let's go uncle, their tea was rather bland… I prefer the ones that you prepare yourself."
"Yes!"
As the duo left the vicinity, the curtain of night fell over the continent leading to a comfortable winter night.
...….
The next day came with bright sun early in the morning, and in a small village located on a southeastern island of the Earth Kingdom, a group of 3 foreign kids could be seen being forcefully escorted by painted girls wearing green kimonos and dark armors similar to samurais of old.
"WE ARE NOT SPIES!" A loud male voice echoed, who else other than Sokka?
"And that's exactly what a spy would say!" of course, someone from the mob in the background had to shout that.
Sokka couldn't bear it, that level of stupidity was so bad that he wanted to flay the skin off his own face! 'Come on, how can such dumb people exist in this world?!'
"You know… He is not wrong Sokka… That's indeed what a spy would say…" commented Aang cheerfully beside him.
"Aang… just… stop…" Sokka couldn't… really….
Katara could only smile wryly at that, but she was quick to think of a solution, turning to Aang she whispered. "You should reveal yourself as the Avatar, that way no one would doubt us!"
"I… I can try…" said Aang with a bit of reluctance in his voice.
"How can you guys behave like this?!" Demanded Sokka, who wasn't having any of it.
"Sokka…" Katara tried to interfere, but the boy couldn't take it.
The girl in the lead approached Sokka with a neutral expression. "This is how it is in our land. You were the ones that entered without permission…"
"We didn't know!" Katara tried to protest.
"Oh really? That's great! Everything is forgiven then," said the painted girl with a cheerful smile.
"Really!?" Shouted Sokka, with relief in his voice, but it was instantly demolished.
"No," she answered with a deadpan expression.
"WAIT!" Shouted Katara, interrupting whatever these girls were doing at the moment.
Everyone in the vicinity stared at her.
Katara, noticing that she got their attention, pointed to Aang. "He is the Avatar! We are not spies!"
"The Avatar you say?" Everyone stared at the bald boy with raised eyebrows. "The last avatar was said to be an Airbender that disappeared 100 years ago, there's no way that i would believe those words without proof…" said the painted girl in her green kimono and armor.
"And how do I do that?" Aang asked confusedly.
Sokka, being all tied up and not having his hand free to facepalm himself, simply hit his head on the wooden pole that he was tied to 'you got to be kidding me…'
Katara, trying to be helpful, whispered to him. "I think you should try to airbend, Aang. Only the Avatar would be able to airbend nowadays…"
"Oh yeah! Airbending!" Said Aang enthusiastically.
"Oh just… kill me…" Sokka kept hitting his head.
The situation passed without any issue, Aang managed to do the most underwhelming airbending ever, rotating a small coin between his hands. Everyone cheered, one tall ugly guy with missing teeth foamed through his mouth and passed out, and Suki, the current leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, couldn't be more disappointed at the Avatar's skills.
'Seriously? You are THE Avatar, and that's the best you could come up with?' Even though she didn't spend too much time with Madara, her face was getting dangerously close to a Saitama face.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
KojiSan
KojiSan Hello there everyone! New chapter here.
This one is shorter than the usual, not by much though. But back when i first started i already explained how i hate breaking scenes in half, so i simply can't take a part of the next chapter and add it here just to fill the space.
As for anything else... i have no complaints really, you all are great readers and i am always happy to publish new chapters ^_^
Gotta go back to writing though, my pile of completed chapters are dwindling D:
I hope you all enjoy the chapter, for those curious worried or whatever.. no it wont be canon rehash, its simply because the start of ATLA book 1 have way too many setups to be abandoned and skipped like that, but most of Book 1 will actually be skipped, since the Team Avatar's personal adventures that have nothing to do with Madara won't be added here.
The second arc of the fanfiction is called Book 2: Air for a reason, it's about the entire of Avatar Aang's adventure, not just season 1 2 or 3, but also the comics.
Im already setting quite a few things for a possible Korra expansion, beyond that.. idk if i will do it.. but IF i do it, it will only be to the next cicle, aka Earth, and i would follow the fan comic of Avatar Gengi for that one.
Thank you all, even today i still have people welcoming me back and it is really sweet, thank you... for real... stay awesome guys! see you on the comment section
Chapter 46: Gathering Information
It was dawn, and the gentle breeze of the early winter brought a sense of comfort to everyone in the Uchiha Resort's (formerly known as Village Resort) vicinity.
The whole place was twice as big as before Madara acquired it. The Koei Tower was a beacon of wealth, luxury, and depression. The workers were happy, well-paid, well-dressed, and extremely loyal.
The classic Japanese style architecture with ostentatious Chinese style adornments in every building, surrounded by its own private cherry blossom tree forest, makes this place a jewel that shines brightly.
Of course, like everything that shines too bright, it brings a lot of trouble. Or at least it did in the previous year, as many bounty hunters, mercenaries, private soldiers, spies, and even assassins from both the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation tried to take this place down and conquer it.
Of course, none of their plans ever worked. Nowadays, Madara doesn't fear a single human, not even the Avatar… well, not the season 1 Avatar, at least. Kyoshi would be a pain in the ass to deal with if she was the current Avatar.
At this moment, in an underground chamber, Madara could be seen checking a few of his preparations for the possibilities of the future. He didn't want to put all of his hopes and dreams on the Avatar's success, especially as there's still a reincarnator somewhere, and that wildcard could change the scales of battle and completely modify the outcome of the story.
'The problem is… What if the reincarnator is not "combat-oriented"? What if this little bastard is a backstabbing, cunning, cowardly schemer? That would increase the difficulty of my work by a hundred-fold.'
"Mr.Uchiha," The same melodious female voice as before echoed behind him.
"Nari?" Madara raised his eyebrow at the newcomers. "Where's Jackie? He was supposed to be here for the quick meeting I arranged…."
"Fufufu~" she covered her mouth with her soft hand, "You don't have to worry about my husband, Mr. Uchiha. He is just…. Busy… We had a long talk after last night, and now he is repenting for his misdeeds. Obviously, he had an important job, so I took it upon myself to replace him, but you don't have to worry. I shall do my best on his behalf."
Madara was initially confused, but then he remembered the bridge talk with Nari the other day, and his eyes trembled slightly. "A-alright… well, bring our guest. We can't have our employee waiting for long, can we?"
"Right away" She bowed gracefully and allowed another woman to enter the underground room.
The woman was tall, strong looking, yet gorgeous. She had long black hair that covered one of her sharp black eyes. She wore rather extravagant make-up, dark eyeshadows that made her fair skin look even paler, and dark red lipstick on her thick full lips.
'This is the most Uchiha-style woman in the whole Avatar World' Madara raised an eyebrow as he stared at the newcomer, who looked around curiously but not for a second did she let her guard down.
"So, after a whole year working for the 'mysterious' owner of this place… we finally meet," she said with a rather smug grin on her pretty face.
Madara shrugged in return. "What can I say? I am a busy man."
She snickered. "Busy indeed, to be so wealthy so young… tell me 'Boss-man,' couldn't you even spare a minute of your time to meet such a gorgeous woman such as myself?" she said as she hugged herself and displayed her curves in a rather.. dangerously seductive way…
But Madara didn't get affected by it. Instead, he smirked. "Well… "sitting down on a chair and placing his feet on top of the table beside it, "…If I was to give one minute of my time for every gold digger that comes to me… I would be screwed in life…."
She instantly showed a hurt expression, staring at Madara with big sad eyes "…H-how mean… How can you say that?..."
"It's a family trait," he shrugged again.
…
The few seconds of silence were interrupted by a loud female laugh.
"Hahahaha, this is great!" She had to hold her stomach as she was laughing. "I can't deny that I like your style, Boss-man."
Nodding in understanding, he just said, "Well, that's understandable. I am a pretty likable guy."
A loud snort echoed through the room.
"Now, with that out of the way," he continued, "we should introduce ourselves… ladies first."
"Isn't it proper etiquette to introduce yourself first before requesting names?" She raised an eyebrow with a sarcastic smirk on her lips.
"My house, My money, My rules," he simply said as he rested his cheek on his palm.
She could only shake her head. "Well, the name is June, I've been working as a freelancer for you for almost a year now… although I have to say that the payment isn't that great, you could increase it a bit so we... the worker class… stop hating you behind your back."
"I shall consider it," Madara replied lazily. Are you kidding? No chance this golddigger would work for him if he wasn't the highest bidder. What a fucking scammer.
"I've been recently tasked to uncover certain details about the Fire Nation's Military movements within the Earth Kingdom," she completed, with a serious tone this time.
His eyes narrowed. "And?"
"I discovered something... interesting…" she said as she sat down opposite of Madara. "Years ago, after the failure of the Siege of Ba Sing Se… the Fire Nation Military started outsourcing something… now…which thing I do not know… but they are heavily investing into it, to the point where they cut down many other projects, even I was affected by it since I've worked for months for one of their bounties and they just… pulled it off…. Although I only discovered the whole outsourcing thing rather recently."
"It must be something big…" he muttered to himself, thinking about the possibilities.
"That's what she said..."
Instantly Madara choked and stared at June with a gobsmacked expression. Even his mouth was wide open. "W-what did you just say?"
June stared at him weirdly, then pointed towards Nari, that was near them and listening to the whole conversation, and said, "That's what she said… you know… when I told her about it beforehand?"
"Oh…."
…
…
"Ahem," he coughed to remove the awkwardness, failing miserably. "By the way, what bounty were you doing when they decided to cut you off back then?" he placed his kiseru in his mouth for a bit to enjoy his smoking. It didn't affect him negatively whatsoever. He was pretty much immune to poison nowadays.
She shrugged it off, not understanding anything and judging it as one of her Boss' 'quirks.' "Well, it's not like it should be a secret, but me… like many others... were after this heavy target from the Fire Nation. People call him Ghost."
COUGH.
COUGH COUGH COUGH.
Madara was dying, thanks to the smoke of his kiseru, nothing related to the information he had just received at all!
Even Nari had to bite her lip to not smirk at the situation. She was doing her best to stay in the background like a dependable employee, although the trembling of her shoulders could be seen if someone paid attention enough.
"How old are you again?" He raised his eyebrow; she didn't look old.
"Eighteen, why?" She raised her eyebrow in response.
But he just shrugged. "The last time I heard about the Ghost was several years ago, so you started on the business rather young, eh?"
She shrugged back. "What can I say?... It's a family trait."
Madara snorted.
The meeting continued for over an hour, and eventually, June left to enjoy a five-day holiday before going back to her other tasks, some unrelated to Madara. She was a freelancer, after all.
"She is rather interesting," Commented Nari while watching June leaving while mounted on her Shirshu, Nyla.
"She is something alright…." Madara sarcastically commented, "Although I rather not let her and Kaliya meet, they will either give me a headache or brawl it out like savages…."
She raised an eyebrow. "And somehow you find the second option unacceptable? YOU?"
Madara just stared at her with a deadpan expression. "If they fight, they will break my things… my expensive things… and even beating the shit out of them after the deed is done… won't bring my broken stuff back, nor will it return the money that I spent on it…."
Nari chuckled cutely, "Mr. Uchiha, you are a rather cheap man for someone so rich, your riches are almost reaching the Beifong level, and I don't doubt that in a few years, you will reach and may even overwhelm them in wealth."
"I am rich precisely because I am cheap. Money in the hands of an idiot will simply disappear," he snorted back. "By the way… about what we were talking earlier…"
"Yes?" she blinked cutely.
"Will… he be alright…?" he gulped
"Oh…"
…
…
…
She bowed respectfully and turned around to do her chores, but not before leaving her final words behind "Don't worry… he will live…. I think…"
..
"Oh… poor… poor Jackie…"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
KojiSan
KojiSan
Nothing to say today, its not a good day.
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
14 Power
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