The seventh person was Sarutobi Shinnosuke.
He was the youngest, two years younger than Nobunaga, thin and small, standing at the door like a bean sprout.
His eyes were large and bright, and there was a light in them when he looked at Nobunaga.
"Big Brother Nobunaga," he said, his voice still a little childish, "Can I see your things?"
Nobunaga let him in. Shinnosuke sat at the table, carefully looking at the papers.
He didn't know many characters, so he pointed at parts he didn't understand and asked. Nobunaga explained them one by one.
"This point, everyone has food to eat. How can that be achieved?"
"Farming. Building roads. Transporting grain."
"Then Ninja won't fight wars anymore?"
"They will fight. But not for the Daimyo, for the Village. When they're not fighting, they'll farm, build roads, and transport grain."
Shinnosuke nodded. He turned to the next page.
"This point, everyone has dignity. It's not about bloodline, but about what they've done."
He looked up at Nobunaga.
"Then can a child like me do something too?"
Nobunaga looked at him. This child was the younger brother of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
But standing here, he wasn't asking "Can I become Hokage?" but "Can I do something?"
"Yes," Nobunaga said, "Study hard, train hard, live well. When you grow up, you can do more."
Shinnosuke smiled. The smile was bright, like sunlight on water.
"Then when I grow up, I want to help Big Brother Nobunaga do it together."
Nobunaga was momentarily stunned. "Do what?"
"To make sure everyone has food to eat and clothes to wear," Shinnosuke said, "To make sure no one dies in vain. To make sure everyone has dignity."
Nobunaga looked at him. This child was two years younger than him. But when he spoke these words, the light in his eyes was brighter than many others.
"Good," Nobunaga said, "Let's do it together."
Shinnosuke smiled even more happily. He stood up, bowed, and ran out.
Nobunaga stood at the door, watching his retreating figure disappear at the end of the corridor.
He thought of those people—
Might Duy's sweat, Shinku Yuhi's silence, Sakumo Hatake's hesitation, Orochimaru's scrutiny, Jiraiya's casualness, Zixiao Mitarashi's sake, Sarutobi Shinnosuke's smile.
They were not Senju, not Uchiha, not the prominent families at the center of power.
They were children of "second-rate families"—without distinguished bloodlines, without powerful backgrounds, without inheritances left by their parents.
But they possessed an upward vitality.
That power was stronger than bloodline.
Nobunaga turned around and walked back to the table. The oil lamp was still lit, the papers still spread out, and the ink hadn't dried yet.
He sat down, picked up his pen, and continued to write.
Outside the window, the moonlight was bright.
In the distance, someone was training, and faint shouts drifted over. Further away, the Hokage Building's flag fluttered in the night wind.
This era was still long. But he had already found people willing to walk with him.
Days passed one by one.
Nobunaga's small booklet evolved from an initial stack of papers into a thin manuscript.
The edges of the manuscript were frayed from turning, and the pages had annotations in different handwritings:
Small figures drawn by Might Duy, annotations written by Shinku Yuhi, tactical analyses supplemented by Orochimaru in meticulous script, and comics sketched casually by Jiraiya.
They began to gather and discuss. It wasn't just Nobunaga speaking, but everyone speaking together.
The first formal discussion was on a rock by the Training Ground. Might Duy squatted on the ground, drawing with a branch, depicting his understanding of "living":
A stick figure from birth to growth, then to old age, with a line of crooked words written next to it:
"A thousand push-ups a day."
Shinku Yuhi leaned against a tree, saying that his family used to live by farming before they became Ninja.
"When you talk about farming, I remember watching my grandfather till the fields when I was little. If Ninja could also farm, we could indeed produce a lot more grain."
Sakumo Hatake sat nearby, speaking little. But every time he spoke, he hit the nail on the head.
"You said building roads. Once roads are built, supplies can be transported. But who will build the roads? How? And where to?"
Nobunaga said Ninja could build them, using Earth Release, physical strength, and Chakra.
Sakumo nodded, asking no further questions.
Orochimaru came more and more often. He rarely participated in arguments, always waiting for others to finish before slowly speaking in his effeminate voice.
But his questions were the sharpest: "What you're talking about requires money. Where will the money come from?"
Nobunaga said it would come from missions, from the Village's treasury, and from reducing resources wasted on war.
Orochimaru was silent for a moment, then said, "The Daimyo won't agree."
Nobunaga said, "Then we'll make the Daimyo agree."
Orochimaru glanced at him, then said nothing more.
Jiraiya always brought food when he came. Rice balls, grilled fish, steamed buns pilfered from the cafeteria.
He ate and listened, occasionally interjecting, and laughing most of the time. But when he laughed, his eyes were serious.
Zixiao Mitarashi was the only one who brought sake every time.
If no one drank, he drank it himself, then leaned against the wall and dozed off.
But even when he dozed, he heard everything.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke was the most serious. He brought a small notebook and wrote down everything Nobunaga said.
His handwriting was clumsy, but every character was written with effort.
They argued many times. The most intense was about "everyone having dignity."
Nobunaga said, "It's not about bloodline, but about what they've done."
Might Duy was the first to agree: "Exactly! Effort is the most important!"
Shinku Yuhi hesitated: "But bloodlines do exist. The Senju and Uchiha are naturally stronger than others."
Orochimaru said: "So what? Should those who are naturally strong rule over those who are naturally weak?"
Shinku fell silent.
Jiraiya, for once, became serious: "It's not about ruling. It's about protecting. The strong protect the weak; that's what Lord Hashirama meant."
Nobunaga said: "Protection is fine. But protection is not charity. Those who are protected must also have dignity."
Sakumo spoke: "How do you guarantee that?"
Nobunaga thought for a moment. "A system. Establish a system that gives everyone a chance. Regardless of their background, as long as they work hard, they can live better."
"Like the Ninja Academy exams?" Shinnosuke asked.
"Yes. But not just exams. It's about work, income, and being seen."
Orochimaru said: "What you're talking about requires power to implement."
Nobunaga looked at him. "I know."
"Can you obtain that power?"
"Yes."
Orochimaru asked no further questions.
After that day, their discussions became more and more in-depth.
From how to farm to how to build roads. From how to transport grain to how to distribute it.
From how to prevent Ninja from fighting to how to prevent Daimyo from starting wars. Some questions had answers, some did not.
But they didn't care. They believed that if they kept thinking, they would eventually find the answers.
On the day of extracurricular activities, the instructor asked everyone what they wanted to do.
Some said to train, some said to fish by the river, some said to wander the streets.
Nobunaga said, "Go see the Martyrs' Monument."
The instructor was stunned for a moment. Everyone else was also stunned.
"Why?" the instructor asked.
Nobunaga said, "Go see those who have died."
No one objected.