Sasuke Who Wants to Get Stronger

Sasuke followed behind Izumi through the Uchiha clan grounds in the early morning, finally arriving at the clan head's residence at the center of the compound, a mansion with an unmistakably traditional architectural style.

The mansion's courtyard was in a typical dry landscape style, white sand spread across the ground, dotted with several pieces of bluestone, while an ancient pine with a vigorous, weathered posture cast sparse shadows in the morning light.

The air was filled with the faint scent of soil and moss after rain, so quiet it seemed as if it could wash the dust from one's heart.

And on the wide wooden engawa connected to the main house, a figure had already been waiting there.

Shisui Uchiha was wearing a deep-blue traditional kimono today, with a navy sash tied casually around his waist and white split-toe socks on his feet.

He sat in a relaxed posture at the edge of the engawa, his back against a pillar, holding a plain white porcelain cup in his hands, wisps of steam rising from it.

The morning light fell slantwise over him, gilding his handsome, gentle profile with a soft rim of gold.

He seemed to be enjoying this rare moment of peace in the early morning, his expression calm.

Compared with the agitated, furious clansmen outside, Shisui on the engawa seemed to exist in another world.

Izumi brought Sasuke straight through the courtyard and stepped onto the engawa.

The clansmen gathered outside the mansion courtyard, including Kengo Uchiha, Osamu Uchiha, and the others, stopped beyond the edge of the white sand and did not follow them in. They merely waited with expressions that were anxious, resentful, or complicated, their eyes fixed on the three people on the engawa.

Izumi stopped at the edge of the engawa and bowed slightly