17 Dragon God's trial Part 1

Itachi found himself lost in strangely familiar yet unknown memories of battles….. of wars… of history. He felt as if he was actually present far in the past, witnessing the gradual rise of the Shinobi world along with the Uchiha and the Senju clans.

It didn't take long for Itachi to realize just whose 'memories' or 'recordings' he had been witnessing. From Kaguya's first sealing to Zetsu's scheming for the Uchiha and the Senju until he found himself observing the future that he had left behind in the wake of his passing. From the Shinobi alliance's initial battle against Obito to Sasuke's eventual turn up with a seemingly change of heart. Yet deep in his eyes, Itachi could see the cold fire of hatred that he himself had ignited still burning brightly. Still, Sasuke seemed to fight with Naruto against Obito and eventually, against Madara. Although, he had already guessed all of this to be a strange dream or even memory, he still felt a certain sense of comfort in the path that Sasuke had chosen. That, in turn, made him feel even more helpless as he saw how Madara put a blade in Sasuke's heart as Sasuke seemed to be almost dead with Itachi's name on his mouth until he returned back, gaining the Rinnegan and trying to fight against Madara and then Kaguya.

Itachi had always felt Black Zetsu was more than it seemed. However, it being Kaguya Otsutsuki's will would never have crossed his mind. The memories ended with black zetsu just about to be sealed in the other dimension before it saw Yun Che's face as it finally plunged into eternal darkness. As the memories seemed to fade away, Itachi finally heard Yun Che's voice reverberating through his consciousness.

'These memories have always existed in your consciousness…..sealed deep within…. by my will. It really was a twist of fate…Me choosing to observe your world before truly passing on. I was merely curious and I know that you are aware of this already but I will still reaffirm it: I am not your enemy….I will never be your enemy….You of all people should be able to understand the reason for my existence and the desperation to fix my one greatest regret. As such...Let these memories guide you on your path and know that these memories that you just experienced weren't really the ones that I wanted to show you…I spent years wandering in your world from the day you undid the reanimation jutsu to me taking over Black zetsu, even still wandering around observing and recording everything so that one day you could see for yourself the conclusion of your brother's tale…How the purpose of your life turned out to be…..See for yourself, Itachi...And I hope at the end of it all, you will understand me and fulfill my will so that I can finally let go….of my regret.'

Suddenly, the blankness around his consciousness turned dark for a moment as Itachi saw Sasuke's battle against Naruto, their ultimate reconciliation although not without harm. He felt sad that Sasuke had lost an arm, however, he seemed to have gained a lot more in return. So, it was still fine. The memories seemed to be centred around his brother's life, his path of redemption, his family…Itachi's family. When Itachi had first seen little Sarada in the memories he had felt a kind of emotion that he had almost forgotten, utter happiness. Watching through these memories as Sasuke worked alongside Naruto to protect the village that Itachi had sacrificed so much for, Itachi could finally say without a shadow of doubt that he had no regrets. Although, trouble still came in the form of the Otsutsuki clan, still the fight this time was more about the shinobi world against the Otsutsuki rather than among themselves. Eventually, even the Otsutsuki were driven back as Sarada was able to become the Ninth Hokage. The memories came to an abrupt end with Sasuke's passing. However, Itachi wasn't really sad about that, his brother had lived a fulfilling life being able to go past all the pain and suffering that he had endured. Furthermore, just to have the knowledge of this incredible future had made Itachi free of his eternal guilt and suffering….

As the memories faded away, Itachi's consciousness seemed to be drifting across his own emotions. He could hear a gentle yet cold voice calling out to him, driving him away from his melancholic mood as his mind finally seemed to be awake before he opened his eyes to a dark space with a little bit of light as he turned towards the gentle voice.

"Itachi!"

…...

Chu Yuechan had been meditating quietly before her concentration had been broken by an abrupt shout from Itachi. She calmly opened her eyes, observing the young man lying in a simple bed of stone without any visible injuries on him. Yet, oberving his face, one could see an expression of absolute torment along with a myriad of other emotions that she had never seen on his face. It had been this way for the last week. An entire week had passed since the moment he had passed out. Chu Yuechan had followed his wishes and chosen to stay inside the same cave until he woke up. However, apart from these constant nightmares along with occasional shouts, there had still been no sign of him waking up.

Chu Yueli who had also been keeping an eye on Itachi suddenly noticed something as she said: "Sister, he seems to be crying suddenly?"

Chu Yuechan returned her focus to Itachi again as she too noticed it, his face seemed to be almost at a peace as tears flowed down constantly. Chu Yuechan finally decided to try waking him up again as she went near him saying quietly before shaking him lightly: "Itachi!"

Suddenly, his eyes seemed to open as his earlier expression of sadness seemed to gradually be replaced by his usual indifference as he turned sideways, directly looking into her eyes with a certain depth unnerving her for an instant.

Itachi regained his bearings after a few moments of observation around the dark cave as he turned to her before asking: "Fairy Chu, I must thank you for looking after me. How much time has passed since I went unconscious?"

Chu Yuechan walked back towards her stone seat as she replied: " No need for thanks, we should be the ones thanking you instead. It's been a week since you passed out."

Itachi contemplated for a moment before replying: "I see."

Chu Yueli then asked the question that she had wanted to : "Why did you told us to bring you here?"

Itachi sat up while inwardly circulating the Great Way of the Buddha to recover from any left over injuries. He looked at the Chu sisters before replying: "At first, I didn't wish to bring you with me to the trial. However, now, it seems I have no choice."

Chu Yueli seemed intrigued by Itachi's words. She knew Itachi had passed the Phoenix trial to obtain the Divine Phoenix bloodline. As such, the fact that he knew about another seemed to be too absurd to her. She immediately asked: "Another trial?"

Itachi had finally finished checking himself over as he stood up with a determined gaze: " Yes, it is another trial. If you wish to, you may come with me to observe. Although, it might take some time for it to end."

Itachi wasn't going to tell them that he had to take them to the trial regardless of their decision for the sake of their own safety…especially Chu Yuechan. He had tried to avoid her involvement until now. However, he had no choice anymore.

Chu Yuechan suddenly felt as if Itachi hadn't been asking a question. She still had to repay her debt to him. As such, she didn't need to think much before agreeing: " Since we are already here we might as well help you. Furthermore, the three year protection period is still not over."

Chu Yueli stood up with her sister before agreeing: "Yes, and now we also have another debt to repay."

Itachi nodded silently before walking deeper inside of the cave: "Let's go then."

The Chu sisters quietly followed Itachi as the three of them disappeared beyond the darkness of the cave…

While on the way, Jasmine's frantic voice finally sounded: "Itachi! Itachi! Can you hear me now? I couldn't contact you for the entire week. What was that 'thing' that you met, it seemed to have sealed my soul?"

Itachi patiently responded to Jasmine's frantic questioning: "No need to worry Jasmine. You could say it is wisp of divine soul that has now inhabited a physical body. The Sky Poison Pearl was related to him before me, that is the reason why he may have been able to seal your spirit. I cannot do the same since my soul is not that strong as of yet."

Jasmine immediately let out a shocked yell of voice: "Do you mean to say that soul is even stronger than my own. How could that be possible? How could this mere mortal planet in the lower realms have such a spirit soul? Moreover, although I couldn't hear everything it said but it still seemed to know you already."

Itachi sighed as he said: "I am not sure how much of his previous soul strength he has in this state. If he retains even a fraction of his soul strength, then at least in this poisoned state you won't stand a chance. And, as I said, the Sky Poison Pearl was his before me, as such, we know each other. Although, you don't need to worry about him, he won't do anything harmful towards you. He might just seal you every time I confront him to stop you from interfering in his plans."

Jasmine snorted: "You are really too non-chalant about your own fatal situation. Do you even understand that if he can seal me that easily then killing you would be like breathing for him? "

Itachi chuckled: "Oh, you seem to misunderstand. He doesn't wish to kill me. He simply wishes for me to fulfill his will. That's all."

Jasmine asked confusedly: "What do you mean by that? What will? And if it's that simple, why don't' you just say yes and do it?"

Itachi stayed silent for a time: "It is not that simple. I have taken a vow to rather die than be forced to fulfill anyone's will except my own. Have you forgotten our first confrontation?"

Jasmine chuckled lightly as some of the tension left her body: "Of course, I remember your willingness to die rather than submitting to me. I suppose I will let it go for now. And considering the fact, how you so easily compared my strength to that man, you seem to be aware of the level of strength I am at and the place where I come from."

Itachi replied after a moment: "Yes, I am aware of the Realm of the Gods."

Jasmine asked in a curious voice: "I am really curious now, who are you really…?"

Itachi immediately asked in reply: "If you tell me more about yourself, I will do the same…"

Jasmine snorted at Itachi's defection: " Hmph! This princess is going to rest for a while…."

With that, Itachi retracted his consciousness from his mind, focusing on the task ahead of him: the Dragon God's trial.

The three of them continued all the way in, moving towards the deepest parts of the cave. The place had already become very dark and quiet.

Itachi suddenly rose to his feet as a sphere of Phoenix flame suddenly formed, bringing a surge of heat into the dark cave.

At this moment, an ancient, majestic voice rang out from the air above him startling the two fairies as they looked around.

"The fire of the Phoenix…so that's how it is. It seems I wasn't mistaken; your body truly does have a bit of the blood of the Phoenix within it."

"Young humans, I am a mere wisp of a residual soul left behind by the Primordial Azure Dragon that watches over this trial ground. " The ancient voice said in a majestic tone of voice

"Primordial… Azure Dragon?" Chu Yuechan lifted her head and looked upwards as she glanced at the visage in shock. Chu Yueli was similarly shocked to learn the identity of the wisp of soul.

While inside Itachi's mind, Jasmine's completely shocked voice reverberated: "What? Primordial Azure Dragon? Leader of the Divine Beasts in the Primordial Era, the Dragon God —— Primordial Azure Dragon!? Just what is the deal with this tiny planet?"

A pair of mysterious eyes suddenly opened in the pitch-black space overhead. .

Enveloped beneath this soul's aura, the Chu sisters felt as if they were experiencing a kind of absolute power that suppressed the interference of the mind. And at the same time, this soul's aura was simply that terrifying; how could it even be possible for that voice to tell an untruth?

"I am aware of that , I have come here to challenge this trial. " Itachi lifted his head to look at the pair of azure blue eyes as he asked unhurriedly.

"You are a really interesting human. The Era of the Gods had long since ended, and True Gods had also completely vanished. But we were not willing to completely disappear from the world, and would attempt to use various sorts of methods to leave behind a vestige of our strength to pass onto those of the future generation we had an affinity with, who would then pass on what used to be our strength to their future generation for an eternity... After waiting all these years, I have finally found a fated one. The first after a thousand years....." The Primordial Azure Dragon's voice echoed as it explained things already known by Itachi.

"I have witnessed what happened with the flood dragons outside, and even with your weak profound strength you were able to reach here on your own strength although not without assistance, still, it seems to be destined by fate. As such you are qualified to undergo the trial I had left behind… If you are able to pass through the trial I had left behind, I can grant you three drops of Azure Dragon blood and let you possess Dragon God's bloodline. Are you willing…..although, I fail to see why you brought these woman here?…Is it to protect them from that what I sensed outside the entrance earlier."

So far, for the sake of respect as well as reverence the two fairies had been silently listening to the Primordial Azure Dragon's words. However, upon his sudden inquiry their attention turned towards Itachi.

Itachi actually did not immediately reply because at the moment, he could already feel the questioning as well slightly suspicious gaze of the two fairies behind him: "First of all , let me agree to the trial challenge. As for the two fairies here, Primordial Azure Dragon, you really are the Primordial Era's strongest God below the Creation Gods since you could sense even that soul presence even in that state. You are right, I have brought them here to protect them from that. Since they are already here, please increase the difficulty of the trial by three times. I will leave it up to them whether they wish to continue with me or stay here."

The Primordial Azure Dragon's gaze was calm and emotionless for a moment before a slight laughter erupted: " You are one daring human. No one has been able to pass this trial in the normal difficulty yet you wish to increase the difficulty by three times. Are you sure?"

"I am."

Immediately after Primordial Azure Dragon finished speaking, Itachi nodded right away without even hesitating in the slightest: "I accept your trial!"

"Your answer is not reluctant. Your courage is quite remarkable. Since it's like this, I'll grant your wish, and open the gate to the trial grounds for you…though do remember if the women decide to come along, their strength will be suppressed to the same level of profound strength as you. "

As the Primordial Azure Dragon's voice fell, a blue light suddenly flickered on the rock wall in front of Itachi. After that, a blue colored teleportation formation emerged from it.

Itachi then turned towards Chu Yuechan, taking out a small wooden box towards her as he said: "Fairy Chu, please stay here for this first phase of the trial, once I return, I promise to explain everything. Use these Purple Veined Divine Crystals to increase both of your cultivation for now. Then, if you wish to, I will take you two along with me to the second phase of the trial. "

Although she wanted to know what the Azure Dragon meant by saying Itachi brought them here to protect them. Still, she didn't think much of it, it could be due to some other dangerous dragon that was around this place. Considering that she had already met three dragons here she wouldn't be surprised to find one more any longer. However, right now, she was more shocked about how Itachi had handed such precious resources to her. She hesitated to take the box from him before replying "If it is your decision to go alone, then I have no right to interfere. Still, be careful and, remember, we of the Frozen Cloud Asgard always try to keep our promises, as such, even if death is a possibility, the two of us will not back down. "

Itachi nodded as he said: "I know. That's exactly why I wish for the two of you to increase your strength. Although, your profound strength will be suppressed but the comprehension of the skills as well as the domain would still be there which would be quite helpful, as such, please accept this."

Chu Yeuchan understood Itachi's logic. Hence, she reluctantly nodded as she took the box from him: " Very well."

After Itachi gave her the box, he nodded once towards Chu Yueli before dashing into the trial ground's teleportation formation with a fleeting pace.

The moment Itachi stepped in while carrying Little Fairy, the teleportation formation vanished. After a short moment, the drawn-out voice of Primordial Azure Dragon resounded in the dim mountain cave: "Haha, what an interesting youngster…."

Chu Yueli glanced at her sister who extended the wooden box towards her: "Sister, did we do the right thing by letting him go alone?"

Chu Yeuchan replied with her usual indifference: "It doesn't matter anymore. Let's just use these crystals to increase our strength and wait for him to come back…"

Chu Yueli could say nothing but follow her sister's words as the two of them started meditating, cultivating using the Purple Veined Divine Crystals…

…......

Meanwhile, Itachi, passed through the 'Gate' of Trial and entered the familiar platform. The surroundings were all mountains.

At this time Jasmine's mocking voice rang out in his mind: "I really don't know what you're thinking! This is the Dragon God's trial! Its level of difficulty, is something impossible for you to imagine! Yet, you choose to increase it by three times."

In the skies above, the Primordial Azure Dragon's voice suddenly resounded:

"Welcome to the Dragon God's trial grounds, young human. In this trial, there will be a total of three stages. Where you two are now, is where the first stage will be held. In front of you, is the only entrance to where the second stage will be held. Defeat all the Stone Dragon Warriors in this place, and the entrance will naturally open… I wish you the best of luck."

As the Primordial Azure Dragon's voice disappeared, in front of Itachi, two balls of dirt-yellow light suddenly started to flash…

Itachi said out loud : " And so, it begins….."

Itachi quickly took a step forward as he wielded the Overlord's Colossal Sword horizontally in front of him.

Two figures appeared before Itachi's eyes. Their bodies were no different from an average person, but they seemed to be carved from stone, and looked unbelievably firm. Their heads looked half-human, and half-dragon. They were holding onto a stone spear on one hand and a stone shield on the other, as their pairs of expressionless eyes firmly locked onto Itachi.

"Their strength is probably at the Fifth Level of the True Profound Realm, same as you." Jasmine said.

Before the two Stone Dragon Warriors could begin to move, Itachi disappeared from his place, reappearing behind the warriors as he executed two sword slashes embedded with the fire of the phoenix.

Then, without any surprise, his phoenix flaming sword strike broke into the Stone Dragon Warriors as they instantly shattered upon contact. The shattered bodies of the two Stone Dragon Warriors started burning with phoenix fire and then, disappeared completely in a flash of light.

Itachi retracted his sword had only swung once… as he started meditating the first stage of the Great Way of the Buddha to recover his minuscule profound energy.

Ziiiiing~

After a three breaths time, four yellow balls of light suddenly started to flash, and right after, four Stone Dragon Warriors, with exactly the same figures as the ones before, held up their spears as they charged towards Itachi.

The strength of these Stone Dragon Warriors did not change and was still at the same level as Itachi, the fifth level of the True Profound Realm.

Itachi once again used his heavy sword to sweep across them all with sword slashes as all four of them shattered.

The yellow rays of light once again flashed in front of Yun Che, and this time, there were eight of them.

Itachi once again took the initiative to rush towards them and swept his heavy sword across with more strength than before.

Along with the Star God's broken Shadow, his after images continuoulsy left behind violent sword slashes as the stone dragon warriors broke one after the other.

Even without using Sharingan or phoenix flames, the eight Stone Dragon Warriors were not able to touch Itachi as he merely danced around them using the Star God's broken Shadow before shattering them with his sword strikes.

Once again, yellow light flashed in front of him, and eight new Stone Dragon Warriors appeared in front and eight new Stone Dragon Warriors appeared in behind him.

Itachi used the same method as he did before, reaping the lives of the sixteen Dragon Warriors one by one…...

The fifth wave of Stone Dragon Warriors was also dealt in the same manner as the sounds of exploding stone continued without rest.

The sixth wave of Stone Dragon Warriors, a total of sixty-four of them appeared before him after which Itachi knew he couldn't continue shattering them one by one or he might get physical exhaustion, as such, this time, Itachi jumped high in the air as his eyes morphed into that of the Sharingan as his eyes tracked all the groups of the Stone Dragon Warriors.

Gathering profound energy from his veins into his heavy sword, Itachi unleashed eight consecutive sword slashes towards the bundled stone warriors as he bellowed

"Heavenly Wolf Slash!"

Boom… Boom…

The Stone Dragon Warriors were hit with the tyrannical crescent moon slashes one after the other, and as their bodies shattered…

Boom… Boom….

The sixth wave of Stone Dragon Warriors had turned into rubble as a deep gorges appeared all around Itachi.

Itachi stabbed his heavy sword into the ground as he finally felt a little exhausted as he immediately created a single shadow clone to deal with the next wave while he recovered his profound energy using the Great Way of the Buddha.

While the real Itachi was recovering his energy ,a large number of yellow rays of light flashed around him and his clone as the figures of an exact total of a hundred and twenty-eight Stone Dragon Warriors appeared.

The original Itachi simply closed his eyes, as the clone then pulled out the heavy sword from the ground as his body disappeared in a flash before appearing at the front of the stone dragon warriors's entourage.

In a series of explosions, ten Stone Dragon Warriors that came to attack together were sent flying with a swing of the heavy sword.

The Mangekyo Sharingan blazed in the clone's eyes as the pin-wheel started spinning continuously.

"Amaterasu!"

Suddenly a black flame started burning the nearby stone dragon warrior as it tried to get rid of it while screeching continuously.

Itachi capitalized upon it as he unleashed several sword strikes at the burning region to cleave the stone dragon warrior in half as the black flames continued to spread all around the battlefield spreading among the stone dragon warriors. Itachi continued to unleash devastating sword strikes upon the weakened stone dragon warriors burning with the black flames of the Amaterasu.

'Itachi' sidestepped, dodging the spear of the stone dragon warrior before using the body flicker technique to appear behind as he smashed it's burning chest with his sword, cleaving it in half. Then, he turned around as his hands did some hand signs.

"Fire style: Phoenix flame Jutsu!"

Suddenly, a torrent of phoenix fire was unleashed upon the battlefield as some of the stone dragon warriors burned in the phoenix flames while the flames were eaten up the black flames, increasing the intensity as well as the range of Amaterasu over the battlefield, burning more and more stone dragon warriors.

The burning Stone Dragon Warriors tried to swarm together towards Itachi in a desperate attempt to kill him, however, they were easily shattered together by him one by one.

The entire battlefield already looked like a scene from hell, with a man sitting in a meditative posture in the back while black flames burned the stone dragon warriors all over the battlefield while a man with a pair of blood red eyes spun around the battlefield to shatter the stone warriors with one strike as the black flames obeyed his will.

The amount of time Itachi's clone took to clear this wave was very much longer than the previous wave, however, the real Itachi had already recovered himself to the best by the time when the final Stone Dragon Warrior was destroyed, instead of letting the clone exhaust himself, Itachi undid it as the clone dispersed as his profound energy recovered to almost full once again while his mental state had also recovered to the most optimum level

Finally, a larger number of yellow light flash around him

The eighth wave… two hundred and fifty-six Stone Dragon Warriors!

Itachi didn't intend to waste time as he immediately unleashed a bunch of profound techniques to deal with this wave as the stone dragon warriors disappeared one after another.

"Heavenly Wolf Slash!"

"Phoenix Break!"

"Fire Style: Dragon Flame jutsu!"

Itachi's expression was calm the entire time as he reaped all the stone dragon warriors using the various profound skills in his arsenal without using the Mangekyo Sharingan.

BANG BANG BANG…

The eighth wave cleared up in a matter of moments as Itachi also used some amount of his profound energy.

As finally the ninth wave... five hundred and twelve Stone Dragon Warriors appeared!!

Itachi had been long since prepared for this wave. A scarlet fire started to wildly blaze from his body; it even shot up to a height of a few dozen meters in an instant...He had never used Star Scorching Demon Lotus in this stage, which had a large radius, because the consumption of this move was enormous.

"Star Scorching Demon Lotus!!

As the Star Scorching Demon Lotus' flame slowly extinguished slightly, around three hundred Stone Dragon Warriors out of the five hundred and twelve were all drawn into the Star Scorching Demon Lotus. Under the hot flames of a phoenix, all of these Stone Dragon Warriors quickly turned into ash, leaving out the last two hundred.

Itachi, then, finally unleashed the Amaterasu, as the still left burning flames were eaten up by the black flames of Amaterasu spreading all over the battlefield. Using the similar tactics as his clone Itachi cleared up the rest of the stone dragon warriors clearing up the ninth wave as peace returned to the area once again for a moment before….within his line of sight, there were twice the number of Stone Dragon Warriors as before.

The tenth wave had appeared with a total of one thousand and twenty four stone dragon warriors.

"I see, since it is three times the previous difficulty, I have to face one extra wave more before the Stone Dragon General appears who might be even more powerful than before….."

Itachi's used the shadow clone jutsu to create four other clones as all of them immediately used Star Scorching Demon Lotus in four different locations to kill around 200 stone warriors each. Afterwards, each of them unleashed Amaterasu upon the residual flames to spread them all over the remaining stone dragon warriors to finish them off one by one before running out of profound energy and dispersing.

Before five minutes had even passed, Itachi had already dealt with the tenth wave. However, creating five clones had also consumed a lot of profound energy.

Suddenly, the voice of the Primordial Azure Dragon rang from above.

"Very good, young human. The fact that you were able to reach this stage with relative ease is already quite remarkable. However, the first stage of the trial has not yet been completed. The last wave, which is also the most difficult challenge, is going to start soon. But before that, I will give you sixty breaths of time of rest....."

Itachi sat down on the floor motionless.

Yun Che's eyes sprang back to life as his body slightly moved. The Great Way of the Buddha soundlessly activated. In just less than ten breaths of time, he had recovered a great deal.

Soon, the sixty breaths of time silently passed.

At this time, a rumbling sound suddenly came from the mountain cliffs, a towering silhouette slowly walked out with heavy steps.

This silhouette's outer shape was very similar to the Stone Dragon Warriors, however, it was much bigger than an ordinary Stone Dragon Warrior. Its body was over three meters, and its entire body was covered in thick and heavy golden colored armor; the weapon in its hands was more so extraordinarily eye-catching…

The last and eleventh trial of the first stage of the Dragon God Trial, only had one opponent —Stone Dragon General!

Itachi stood upright as he brandished the Heavy sword in his hand as his Mangekyo Sharingan started spinning continuously analyzing the Stone Dragon General in front of him.

"You are not its match… tenth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, atleast not in terms of profound energy." Jasmine said with a gloomy voice: "And… Do you see the sword in its hands? It is a heavy sword, and a genuine… Sky Profound Weapon!"

Itachi: "I will win regardless."

The Stone Dragon General did not show any emotion and did not speak; it only attacked. When Itachi entered its range of perception, its eyes suddenly lit up under the golden-yellow helmet. Its footsteps abruptly sped up and it swung the heavy sword out, smashing straight at Itachi.

When the Stone Dragon General's heavy sword came swinging by, Itachi's Sharingan induced eyes flashed as he swiftly retreated with a Star God's Broken Shadow and completely dodged that strike.

The Stone Dragon General once again brandished the heavy sword in a chain of four or five successive strikes that were all dodged by Itachi's use of the Star God's Broken Shadow or Body Flicker technique…

In the midst of dodging Itachi unleashed his berserk aura as the profound energy in his body erupted with a tyrannical strength:

"Heretic Soul!"

"Eight inner gates: third gate! Open!"

As the two words erupted from his mouth, his eyes suddenly filled with a light red color, his sword started burning with the flames of Amaterasu along it's edges as he unleashed an ultimate self created technique.

"Black Phoenix break!!"

A Phoenix slash in the form of a crescent moon with the flames of Amaterasu along it's edges rapidly collided with the General as it was pushed back a few steps while it's chest started getting eaten away by the black flames as it staggered .

Inside the Sky Poison Pearl, Itachi's action caused Jasmine to turn in shock. She opened her mouth, but then immediately bit down the words that nearly left her mouth. While accessing Itachi's current condition, she went into a daze; her vision became hazy as an indistinct appeared before her eyes. Then, it slowly overlapped with Itachi's current form...His stance almost seemed very, very much like that of her older brother…

Itachi immediately followed it up with another strike as phoenix flames burst out around him, as a pair of resplendent illusory phoenix wings sprouted from his back.

"Empyrean Dance of the Phoenix Wing!!"

Bang!!!!

The heavy sword stabbed into the chest of the Stone Dragon General, sending flames bursting out as the black flames already present on it started spreading all over even more vigorously.

Itachi spun in midair as he immediately unleashed three consecutive strikes at it's torso where the Amaterasu was strongly corroding it's body.

"Heavenly Wolf Slash!!"

The three strikes reached the fallen Stone Dragon General in the blink of an eye, slamming into it and sent the Stone Dragon General flying up into the air.

The sounds of crumbling rocks suddenly sounded out. The Stone Dragon General suddenly emerged from the pile of rubble. Debris showered off its body as it stood up once more. However, it could barely stand while black flames rapidly consumed it. However, it seemed to be using it's profound energy to disperse the flames, if only slightly.

The Stone Dragon General tried to lift its heavy sword, however, Itachi had no intention of extending this fight as he executed multiple sword slashes on the Stone Dragon General targeting all it's weak spots using his Sharingan while taking away the Sky Profound Sword: Dragon Fault as he threw

Boom!!Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom...

After being pounded heavily by Itachi several times, the Stone Dragon General's body became riddled with holes.

"Empyrean Dance of the Phoenix Wing!"

BOOM!!!

For this strike, Itachi selected the Stone Dragon General's weakest point.

While focusing tightly on the same location on the Stone Dragon General, Itachi shot forwards like lightning, and the aura of profound energy surrounding him abruptly became incomparably chaotic as he unleashed his final strike.

"Falling Moon Sinking Star!!"

BOOM!!!

Finally, Stone Dragon General emitted a painful screech once again as it broke apart from the middle due to it's own heavy sword: the Dragon Fault. The Stone Dragon General fell on the ground, causing the entire place to shake.

Along with the collapse of the Stone Dragon General, the enormous stone gate in which it came from slowly opened. Subsequently, the Primordial Azure Dragon's pleased voice came from overhead:

"Very good. Young human, you have allowed me to see a shocking result. In these ten thousand years that I've stayed on this continent, you are the first person to pass this stage of the trial. … Fortunately, you are here now. You have already passed the first stage of the trial. Not only did you pass with a three-fold difficulty level, you also accomplished this with relative ease; you have allowed me to see the greatest of hope. The second stage's trial ground gate has already opened. After making sufficient preparations, go in the opened stone gate and you will enter the second stage's trial ground. I wish you good fortune."

The opened stone gate was the second trial's gate.

Itachi requested before the Dragon God disappeared: "I wish for the two fairies to follow me to the second trial."

The Primordial Azure Dragon simply said: "Very well. Since you have already agreed to the three-fold difficulty you can take them if you wish. "

A teleportation gate immediately appeared in front of him, as the two figures appeared through it, walking with grace towards Itachi.

Itachi greeted them both: "Greetings, First Fairy Chu and Fifth Fairy Chu."

Chu Yueli reacted first: "You seem to have passed the first stage with relative ease. You are not much injured."

Chu Yuechan had also noticed Itachi's state, although his profound energy seemed a bit chaotic. However, there weren't any extreme injuries. Unknowingly, she released a sigh of relief.

Itachi nodded towards Chu Yueli: "Yes, Fairy Chu. I am just out of profound energy. I will recover for a while. Then, if you are both still willing, we can go towards the second stage through that door."

Chu Yueli felt slightly annoyed with Itachi's constant askance yet still tried to reply with the same indifference befitting a fairy of Frozen Cloud Asgard: "We will come with you."

Itachi simply nodded as he sat down motionless on the ground as he circulated the Great Way of the Buddha to recover from exhaustion while the fairies waited...

After half an hour of recovery, Itachi finally stood up: "Let's go..."

Wordlessly, the two fairies followed him through the teleportation gate as the three of them disappeared beyond, towards the second stage of the trial…..