Siege of Ba Sing Se (Earth-2213)

"You once laid siege to Ba Sing Se for 600 days, but it would not yield to you."

- - Jiryu to Iroh

The Siege of Ba Sing Se was a six hundred-day assault by Konohagakure on the Land of Earth city of Ba Sing Se during the last months of the Second Hundred Year War. It was one of the war's largest and most legendary battles.

Prelude
The Siege of Ba Sing Se was an attempt by the Land of Fire to further their territory into the Land of Earth, which was started by Konohagakure shinobi led by then-General Iroh. He hoped that, conquering one of the enemy nation's most powerful cities, he would secure the war's victory on the Land of Fire and Konoha.

Battle
In 18 BG, Iroh and his army of shinobi besieged the city of Ba Sing Se, one of the most powerful cities of the Land of Earth and thus a massive strategic location for Iwagakure during the Second Hundred Year War. The siege started after Konohagakure infantry attacked the city's Outer Wall, in the hopes of securing a path for an invasion army. The Iwagakure shinobi fought back almost immediatly, holding Konoha's army for three months. The siege's turning point came when Iroh was finally able to breach the Outer Wall, and Konohagakure secured the foothold they so desperately wanted. The wall's breach opened the way for the invasion force, and the lead jonin of the battle surrendered, only to be executed.

Konohagakure advanced into the agrarian zone and continued their onslaught. Iroh's morale, however, was destroyed once he received that his son, Lu Ten, had been killed by Iwa soldiers in battle. Heartbroken, Iroh lost his will to continue fighting, realizing he had lost too many men and women, and that their morale was also wavering. Iroh then withdrew from battle to the Land of Storms, bringing an end to the six hundred-day siege. Konoha's invasion failed, and Iwa successfully recaptured their nation's most important city.

Aftermath
The Siege of Ba Sing Se ended with a victory for the Land of Earth and the Outer Wall's restoration. Despite their victory, the siege led to a deep resentment between Iwagakure and Konohogakure, and Iroh, specifically. This was showcased when the Iwagakure missing-nin Jiryu captured Iroh in the hopes of enacting his revenge duo to the chaos and violence he and his nation suffered during the siege.

Iroh was derided by his people and hidden village for letting his emotions interfere in the outcome of the pivotal battle, although he found solace among his best friend and eventual lover, Tsunade. Despite this, Iroh's status as a Sannin gained later on, as well as wisdom and tactical prowess led to many to see him as  "a great leader and a great man".

While his lover Tsunade and his father Shimura sympathized with his loss, his older brother Danzou was disgusted by what they saw as Iroh's weakness. Intending on taking advantage of Iroh's lossess and the ultimate failure of the siege, Danzou requested to their father Shimura to let him succeed the office of daimyo, arguing that Lu Ten's passing left Iroh without a heir. While Shimura swore to punish Danzou for that line of thinking, he mysteriously died and Ursa, Danzou's wife, disappeared. Iroh was thus too emotionally wrecked to even properly return to his home nation, leading Ozai to become the new Fire Lord on the alleged dying wish of Azulon.

Iroh lost his birthright and son during the siege, but eventually found himself as a new father figure to Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan, three orphans from Amegakure who lost their parents during the war. Before he returned to the Land of Fire, he remained in the Land of Storms in a small house, where he took care of the orphans as his own children and taught them martial arts before departing.