After the Sand Shinobi launched a large-scale invasion of the Land of Fire, Duke's squad received two notices. The first was that the three members of Shixiao Squad—Mitarashi Duke, Sarutobi Asuma, and Yūhi Kurenai—had all been promoted to Chunin; the second was that they were to enter wartime standby and could be drafted to the front lines at any time.
Duke had no objections. Ninja were soldiers, after all. The village raised and trained them for war. Now that the village stood at a critical juncture, if he did not go, who would? As for being promoted from Genin to Chunin without taking the Chunin Exam, that was nothing unusual. Increasing the number of Chunin during wartime not only put pressure on the enemy, but also boosted their own side's morale. Otherwise, if the other side was packed with Jonin and Chunin while their side was all Genin with only two or three Jonin, what was there left to fight? They would lose their nerve before the battle even began. They would be lucky if the camp did not collapse into chaos.
They were heading to the front, but like most ninja, Duke had little to prepare. Kunai, Shuriken, Explosive Tags, Military Ration Pills, and other essential wartime consumables were all supplied by Konoha's logistics division. He only needed to pack a few of each into his Blade Tool pouch.
Speaking of Military Ration Pills, Duke could not help cursing Chataro inwardly. Pleasant Goat's world was utterly ridiculous. Its products had no logic whatsoever and were useless not just in the Hokage World, but in other worlds as well. It was one thing for Hades to eat a Strength Pill and end up with diarrhea until he was dehydrated, but a certain Dead Fish Eye Duke had it even worse—he