The sound of the gunshot served as a warning and caused a drastic shift in the battle's atmosphere. The spectators were taken aback, but everything now depended on how Zuko would handle it.
No one was worried, though, because everyone knew the prince's capabilities. Azula and Shisui were more interested in how he would resolve the situation than alarmed by it.
'It's time to show off a little, isn't it?' thought Shisui. He was taking note of the improvements his friend had made because their internal competitions were becoming more challenging as they all grew stronger.
They had to hold back because when they fought at full strength, they could be very destructive. Thus, Shisui paid close attention to every improvement Zuko made in the art of swordsmanship, in which Zuko was exceptionally talented.
Even before Jet fired, Zuko had already sprung into action. The chi within his body surged. Unlike most martial artists who were barely exploring the use of this energy, the prince's application was far more expert and delicate.
After all, he had the entire Fire Nation behind him, as well as a childhood friend who had conducted extensive research on energy. Zuko's knowledge of energy pathways, acupuncture points, and meridians allowed him to achieve greater physical enhancements without becoming unnecessarily bulky.
However, his body showed slight changes: tighter, slightly larger muscles; dilated pupils; and a perception of everything around him slowing down considerably.
Thus, he could see the bullet heading straight for him. Based on his calculations, Jet hadn't aimed for a vital part of his body, indicating that he didn't intend to kill him. However, Zuko didn't want to be injured, so he chose the best way to demonstrate his martial prowess.
Chi surged into his right arm, tightening his grip on his sword and shifting his stance in preparation for a movement so fast that it seemed to leave afterimages. It wasn't just his arm that was enhanced; it was his entire body.
The ground beneath his feet seemed to sink under the sudden force exerted upon it. Zuko's clothes fluttered in an invisible wind. His mind raced, and he focused entirely on the projectile.
The moment the bullet touched the edge of the prince's strike zone, Zuko transferred all the power gathered by his body into his arm. He swung his arm, delivering a powerful vertical slash.
All that remained were the sounds of air being sliced by his sword, the faint clang of two pieces of metal briefly colliding, and the resulting spark. The grass in front of Zuko split into two, leaving a clean cut where it had been severed.
Shisui told me many stories and concepts related to the sword. As a child, I believed them completely and trained hard, thinking I would achieve what those fictional characters did:
Sword energy, slicing projectiles in half, flying on my weapon, all sorts of nonsense. But then, by exploring chi and my own perception of the sword arts, I found a path for myself.
I may not look cool flying through the sky on my sword, but cutting bullets is a useful skill, especially when dealing with powerful weapons," Zuko said. His long black hair fell over his face, obscuring it completely.
At that moment, the flames on his swords grew so hot that the air around him seemed distorted. The momentum building within him reached a critical point and exploded like a volcano.
Perhaps what he saw that day in Makapu Village had inspired him, but now Zuko felt as wild as an erupting volcano. Yet strangely, his hair continued to cover his face.
"Since you shot me, let me show you my take on sword energy. Well, what am I saying? You don't know those stories. Shisui should publish them; they're funny." Zuko muttered as he straightened his body and adopted a relaxed stance. At that moment, the wind ruffled his hair and revealed his sharp golden eyes, which seemed to cut through everything they focused on.
With the same speed as before, perhaps even faster, he swung his two swords, one cutting vertically and the other horizontally. Apparently, he only struck air.
However, the flames accumulated and compressed within his swords and shot out, forming a cross of fire that flew toward Jet at great speed. Jet had already sensed the imminent threat of the attack simply from the prince's relaxed posture.
Jet braced his legs and propelled himself to the side, narrowly avoiding the two fiery slashes. They struck the stone wall behind him, causing it to explode and send chunks of rock flying everywhere, along with a shockwave and hot air.
"What a dangerous attack..." Jet said, shaking his head to clear it and dealing with the sharp rock fragments that had grazed his body and lodged in his clothes.
As the wall repaired itself, Jet swallowed hard, imagining what would have happened if he had been hit by such an attack. The consequences were unimaginable, making it abundantly clear that the prince's death threats were real.
"It seems I have to take more risks to prove myself," Jet said before holstering his firearm and grabbing his remaining sword. This time, he would fight without thinking about survival because he would die if he couldn't prove his worth.
He noticed that Zuko was no longer just attacking and defending to attack again. Now, Zuko was trying to decapitate him with every slash of his sword. His swords glowed with flames, wearing down Jet's weapons.
They were strange and exotic, but they weren't made of a valuable or rare material like a meteorite; they were just ordinary steel. With every defense or attack that met Zuko's guard, Jet's swords suffered more damage.
But Jet seemed to have fallen into a state of indifference rather than berserker rage. He was concerned only with not being cut in two, disregarding his own safety.
Thus, his body began to fill with cauterized cuts, and his clothes turned into smoking rags full of charred, holey edges. He kept attacking even though it was clear he was outmatched in skill and physical strength.
Zuko's eyes burned with murderous determination, but something stirred within them. As the fight continued, Zuko began to see Jet in a new light. Though he did not condone Jet's actions, he understood the path he was on.
A path toward redemption, just like the Fire Nation today. During the fight, Zuko remained ruthless in his attacks but no longer sought to cut off Jet's head; rather, he sought to wound him severely.
The fight ended when Jet's swords could take no more and gave way, snapping in his hands and leaving him exposed to two slashes from the prince that left a deep X on his torso.
Jet fell to his knees, staring in pain at the loss of his swords, which stung him more than his cauterized cuts. However, just as his weapons broke, so too did the last connection to his past.
Zuko sheathed his swords and walked toward his defeated enemy. In his right palm, a small ember of golden fire burned, extremely hot and intense. When he stopped in front of Jet, he aimed the flame at the man but did not attack.
He was debating: Should he deliver the final blow? Although Shisui had asked him to leave Jet for dead, the decision was ultimately his. Despite being under a grave threat of death, Jet said nothing, his whole body trembling as he struggled to flee but refused.
"Aren't you going to deliver the final blow with your sword? I thought I'd die by it. It's much better than burning to death. Though I'd deserve it if I lost my life suffering like my past victims." Jet said bluntly. Zuko's face contorted slightly as he recalled the reports he'd received about the man kneeling before him.
Jet truly was a monster created by war: A would-be revolutionary, a terrorist, and a serial killer. But hadn't the Fire Nation done the same? They had! Zuko, who understood Jet's desire to seek redemption, didn't know what to do at that moment.
"Let his face be scarred by the sun's fire. Let him bear a mark similar to the ones he left on the lives he took." Just as we will forever bear the stigma of genocidal killers for the crimes committed in the war, he will carry a reminder of his actions.
But let this also be an opportunity. Without a face, can't he forge a new self?" Azula approached her brother and declared this as she stared intently into Zuko's eyes.
She didn't look at Jet; she wasn't interested in that sort of person. His actions couldn't move her. It wasn't that she was insensitive; rather, it was her duty to take on the role of the iron fist. This role didn't weigh heavily on her conscience and could help her brother govern better.
"All right," Zuko nodded, causing the golden ember in his palm to fall onto Jet's face and gradually burn his skin. The man's screams echoed throughout the room, but he didn't throw himself to the ground to put out the flames. Instead, he endured the pain.
After a few seconds, a sphere of water surrounded Jet's head, extinguishing the fire and emitting a bluish glow. Shisui didn't use Life-bending, but rather the most basic healing technique of waterbending.
He, who had come with the others, looked at Jet cautiously. The healing spread throughout his body, mending his wounds but leaving scars. The worst scar was on his head; his face was ravaged by fire, though his eyes, eyelids, nose, and lips were intact.
Though disfigured, he was not incapacitated. He was simply scared. However, Shisui wasn't looking at that. He wasn't paying attention to Jet himself but rather to his surroundings.
Just as he finished healing Jet, a vague spirit appeared around him, embracing his body and sobbing. Soon, the spirit's body became fully corporeal.
"Sage Shisui! Avatar Aang! Children of Agni! Children of Tui and La! Daughters of Gaia!" the spirit cried. Though its face rested on Jet's scarred torso, the pain in its words was palpable.
"You guys..." Just as the Nascent Lady was about to scold them, Jet touched her back, silencing her. However, the resentment in her aura was noticed by Shisui and Ty Lee.
"So, can you tell me what you promised me?" Jet asked in a low voice. This caused Shisui to raise an eyebrow, then burst out laughing. The Sage found all of this particularly interesting. His state of mind seemed to favor these kinds of situations where everything shifted.
'Am I becoming mischievous like a spirit? I should discuss this with Tui and La tonight,' thought Shisui. He noticed this matter, but since he never stopped taking things seriously, he simply took it as something curious.
"Well, where should I start? Have you ever seen a play? Let's begin by explaining a few things..." Shisui recounted the situation involving Dreamer in detail. He had never met that spirit, but its invisible battle still had consequences to this day.
He mentioned this being to those who didn't know about it, since he hadn't found the opportunity to discuss it in detail. Deep down, Shisui no longer paid attention to anything irrelevant to his life.
He knew that if that thing dared to act again, he would put it to sleep, as its name suggested.
...
In the spiritual world, a massive centipede with an unusually human and feminine face, a white face with red lips and gray markings around the eyes, wandered through a primeval forest, heading toward a famous location: the Tree of Time, where the first Avatar, Wan, had sealed Vaatu.
The Tree of Time, where the first Avatar, Wan, had sealed Vaatu. Koh approached cautiously since he was only a spirit stronger than average; he possessed neither the power nor the status of his mother, the Mother of Faces.
Therefore, he had to show respect to the ancient entity hidden there. Vaatu, always attuned to his surroundings, sensed Koh's approach long ago but remained silent because he could smell an unpleasant scent on him.
The residual influence of the Dreamer. Vaatu didn't want anything to do with anyone involved with that being; he found the idea quite distasteful. He had made an exception for the human woman named Hama because he had chosen her long ago, but Koh? HAHAHA!
Vaatu decided to ignore Koh without listening to his words. If it were his mother standing before him, he would pay attention to her, given how powerful and beautiful she was. But Koh didn't just smell bad; he looked bad, too. Since Vaatu's power couldn't affect him, he simply ignored Koh, isolating himself further.
Vaatu decided to wait for the right moment because the Harmonic Convergence was near. He would only have to wait a few more decades before he could finally break free from his seal.