Inner peace. Ha! A noble pursuit—one that continued to elude Shifu, no matter how many deep breaths he took or how many times he tried to silence the storm in his mind.

The world was chaos. The kind that did not sit still, did not listen, did not wait. Tai Lung was coming. Doom lingered like a shadow. And yet, in the midst of it all, his apprentice had found inner peace faster than he ever could.

He sat, bathed in the flickering glow of bamboo candles, frustration simmering beneath his calm facade. He inhaled. Exhaled. Pressed his palms together.

“In- Inne—” A sigh. A grumble. His ears twitched. “Inner peace…”