44 Challenge

Zuko is currently sitting in a tent, flanked by two Fire Nation soldiers while Zhao paces back and forth with a thoughtful expression, trying his best to hide the annoying frown on his face.

"So.. a twelve-year-old boy bested you and your Firebenders" Zhao stopped pacing and stared at Zuko with contempt. "You're more pathetic than I thought."

The whole ordeal was revealed after Zhao guilt-tripped Zuko to speak, putting, in his words, his 'Loyalty towards the Fire Nation' on the line, something that Zuko would always do his best to protect... foolishly.

The Prince was angry, but his angry face sprouted a smirk. "Oh? Like you are one to talk… At least I didn't lose while commanding over a hundred soldiers and run away disgracefully, the Avatar was the one to run away from me not the other way around."

Zhao was livid, he was about to jump on Zuko when Iroh stood up and took a step forward, placing himself between them, stopping Zhao's aggressiveness instantly.

"You better be careful, exiled or not, a Prince is still a Prince." Said the old General staring at Zhao.

The man with sideburns stared at Zuko with all the anger in his heart. "I hope you enjoyed your opportunity to capture the Avatar, Prince Zuko, because you won't have another chance."

Zuko frowned more. "Like I need your permission to do that."

"You tried and failed!" Zhao walked intimidatingly up to Zuko, "Capturing the Avatar is too important to leave in a teenager's hands. He's mine now."

Gritting his teeth Zuko stared back at Zhao. "Really? You will capture him? You? Who failed to do anything against the last kid that you fought and had to run away with your tail between your legs like a coward?"

The temperature in the room started to elevate, Zhao was beyond angry at this point, but Zuko didn't stop.

"At least my honor was taken away for standing up for what I believed, I had to face the Fire Lord because of it, but yours on the other hand? Was tossed away with your pride and dignity while you ran away from an eleven-year-old criminal!"

Even Zuko didn't quite understand what he said or why he said it, it just came to him and it felt right to say it like that, but instantly Iroh's eyebrows were raised and a gleam could be seen in the old General's eyes.

"We should leave, Prince Zuko," said Iroh, not giving Zhao the opportunity to retort his nephew.

"Our ship was not that badly damaged, and we have enough provisions to reach another Fire Nation colony, there's no need for us to be delayed here."

Zhao took a step forward but Iroh's gaze made him freeze.

"You better not force my hand, Commander Zhao," said the old General while narrowing his eyes.

Zhao stared at Iroh, then at Zuko. "My authority as Commander dictates that I can hold your ship in this harbor until it's fixed, it would be too dangerous to let a broken ship sail on the seas, it could bring a disaster towards the Fire Lord's family...." he grinned, "such are our military laws, and not even you can defy them, General Iroh… But don't worry, a couple of days at most should be enough to fix it and by then you are free to leave."

The only reaction that Zhao's speech brought from Zuko was an eyebrow raised in suspicion. "I am not holding you hostage or locking you up, as the General said, exiled or not you are a Prince and are free to go once your ship is fixed." Zhao turned away and walked towards the door.

"You can't compete with me. I have hundreds of warships under my command and you? You are just a banished Prince. No home, no allies. Your own father doesn't even want you." He grinned as he sneakily looked toward Zuko.

That was enough to make the Prince explode. "You are wrong! Once I deliver the Avatar to my father, he will welcome me home with honor and restore my rightful place on the throne!"

Iroh faced his nephew and spoke sternly, "Prince Zuko, that's enough."

But Zhao didn't allow it to end like that, he turned his face toward the teen and spoke with a victorious smirk. "If your father really wanted you home, he would have let you return by now. Avatar or no Avatar. But in his eyes, you are a failure and a disgrace to the Fire Nation."

"That's not true!" shouted the Prince.

"You have a scar to prove it."

The two stared at one another for several seconds, until Zuko spoke first, with wrath in every word.

"Maybe you'd like one to match"

"Is that a challenge?"

"Agni Kai. At Sunset."

"Very well…" Zhao said resuming his walk. "It's a shame your father won't be here to humiliate you, but I guess your uncle will do."

"Let's see you talk about shame after you get beaten by another 'kid', I wonder if another defeat like that will be enough to rip that proud badge off your armor."

After the Commander left, Iroh turned to his nephew.

"Prince Zuko, have you forgotten what happened last time you dueled a master?" he asked worriedly.

A dark shadow cast over Zuko's face. "I will never forget."

As the sun was setting on the horizon, a man with a long black mane could be seen walking through several high-class buildings, he wore a long black yukata with his clan sigil on the back and had one of his arms folded inside his yukata, with his hand hanging in front of his abs, in the classic 'Itachi style', while the other hand was holding a kiseru of his own while enjoying the view.

Taking a deep puff from his kiseru he stared at the red-ish sun over the horizon and exhaled smoke with a grin.

"I wonder if it's following canon, I did change Zuko quite a bit…" he mumbled to himself, "but I don't think I did enough to derail the story. If all Zuko needed was six months of intense training to capture the Avatar, then this war has no hope of ending on good terms whatsoever."

Enjoying his kiseru for a few more seconds he thought.

'I wonder who the reincarnator is… I also wonder if it's someone with knowledge of this world, or just a random person…' he sighed. 'Not that I am worried, with me around unless the reincarnator finds a way to screw with Vaatu, there's no way for him to beat me in combat, but the portals are closed and it will take almost a century before they open again…'

He smirked and joked to himself, "I really wish that just hearing my name in this world is enough to make the reincarnator shit himself in fear, or he could be a Madara fanboy…" He shivered. "I really hope it doesn't come to that…"

"Mr. Uchiha," a soft female voice could be heard from behind.

Turning around with a huge smile on his face he greeted the newcomer. "Hello there Nari, how can I help you?" she hasn't aged a day, nor did Jackie or Kaliya.

"The plans are in motion, the workers are doing their best to fit everything into the time period of one month like you requested, but are you sure about this?" She asked with a certain worry in her voice.

Madara just grinned, "Don't worry Nari, everything will be according to plan, just make sure to keep our vehicle in top condition, we will be using it to travel soon enough."

"Sigh," she lowered her head. "By the way, where is Kaliya? I haven't seen her since earlier today?"

Madara shook his head with a sigh, "I gave her a task, and now I am all alone in my house…"

Nari gave him a mischievous grin while wiggling her eyebrows. "Aww, poor Mr. Uchiha, now he doesn't have his girlfriend with him, he will be lonely and sad…"

He, in response, simply stared at her with his classic Saitama face. "Really? After a whole year of you teasing me like that you still expect me to blush like I used to?"

She in return just gave him a motherly smile. "Well, I guess not… But I will miss those times regardless."

"You know," said Madara while taking a puff from his kiseru, "Jackie really has a loud mouth…"

Her eyes narrowed and she stared at the kiseru for a second and shook her head 'if I didn't know how resistant his body is against such a meager toxin, I would never accept him smoking that poison…' but then her narrowed gaze was fixed on Madara's face.

"Yes .. and?"

He shrugged. "It seems that our Avatar awakening interrupted your couple activity yesterday morning… Poor Jackie, had to go to work without enjoying it… I bet he was all lonely and sad~" he grinned as he spoke his final words.

Nari didn't disappoint, she turned red, not only out of embarrassment, but she was also fucking livid as well.

'I bet she is more angry than embarrassed right now.. heh..'

"Oh, he did comment that to you?" he could hear her teeth grinding against one another.

"And Kaliya, she was in the room too..." he shrugged, but his evil smile grew larger.

Nari's eyes narrowed even further; he could faintly see a demonic presence around the woman.

"Good to know~, Madara dear… If you excuse me, I have some important things that I just remembered that I have to do…" She said while calming down a bit, but there was something wicked in her eyes.

"It's fin-" he was instantly interrupted by Nari.

"You will leave in one month, right?" She asked with a sweet smile, to which he just nodded as cold sweat covered his back.

"Good to know~," she said those words gently, turned around, and walked away, always displaying the proper elegance and etiquette required from a noble.

"Oh … poor Jackie… poor … poor Jackie…" he came back to his kiseru.

The sun disappeared on the horizon as he kept enjoying the view.

He was about to turn away and walk when his Sharingan, against his own will, activated. He felt a rush of energy coming from the south, it was different from the pillar of light, it was more intense, if before the boy that carried Raava had awakened, now Raava's power itself has awakened.

He was not the only one to feel it though. All across the world, in every Avatar temple, the sign of the Avatar's return appeared, from Fire Sages to Water Spiritualists.

Different from before, this time only the Temples and Statues of previous avatars showed any sign, even those attuned to spirits didn't fell it.

"So, he did reach the Southern Air Temple…" he narrowed his blood-red eyes, which glowed ominously.

A grin appeared on his face. "Isn't that nice? When the plan simply… Works perfectly?" he chuckled and walked away. 'I have things to take care of before our meeting… take care of yourself as well… Firecracker…'