Нобуюки Ода

Nobuyuki is Nobunaga's only sibling with narrative significance. They would often play together during their childhood and ate dried persimmons together. When he wasn't being scared and crying in fright, Nobuyuki clung to their father's every word. Nobuhide soon became his idol. His father named him lordship of Suemori Castle during his early adulthood, a position and place he continues to treasure. When their father became deathly ill, Nobuyuki stayed by his bedside and regularly brought him the flowers his father admired. The younger son stayed faithful to him, but Nobuhide would not cease complaining about Nobunaga's deplorable conduct. Although Nobuyuki yearned for his father's attention, he would not receive it. His world was shattered when Nobuhide perished on a stormy night. Nobuyuki felt another stake through his heart when Nobunaga was infamously disrespectful at their father's funeral service. The younger sibling tried to compose himself, but he was still distressed from his father's death to think straight. He cried endlessly for his father in private. Nobunaga's rudeness divided the Oda vassals and the most discontent members colluded with Shibata to overthrow the young heir. They believed Nobuyuki would be a promising successor to their departed lordship and hounded the young noble to raise arms against Nobunaga. Morose by their insistence to kill his family, Nobuyuki refused their inquiries. His lone protest made him an outcast with the instigators who persisted to badger him at every opportunity. During one of his breaks, Nobuyuki visited his father's grave alone in tears. It was during this time that he spontaneously met Momoji. Although startled, Nobuyuki was too desolate to question the shinobi's sudden appearance before him; he decided to use the chance to vent everything which was bothering him. Nobuyuki continued to refuse the conspirators upon his return. By now, the retainers began to view his empathy as a sign of cowardice. Shibata, the one most vocal in supporting Nobuyuki, had grown tired of his frailty and decided to defect to Nobunaga by first killing the younger brother on a windy evening. Nobuyuki was able to escape immediate death thanks to Momoji. Dumbfounded by the betrayal, Nobuyuki's mind broke when the shinobi explained the reasons to him. Nobuyuki quickly blamed his older brother for robbing him of his happiness and became obsessed with murdering him. After Shibata's betrayal, Nobunaga began his conquests abroad. He gave Nobuyuki the job of officially visiting the conquered lords and lands, trusting his younger brother's diplomacy for addressing the people's complaints and concerns about their new leader. As he listened to each lord in private, Nobuyuki had two main objectives: to do his duty faithfully if needed and to judge which ones still resented Nobunaga. He gladly colluded with the unfaithful ones towards his cause, enticing them to join him once he has laid the foundations for their attack. With Momoji's assistance and reconnaissance, Nobuyuki has spent the last six years gathering a private army for Nobunaga's doom. A month or so before the main story, Nobunaga arranged for a break from his conquests at Azuchi Castle and ordered a handful of trusted retainers to join him. On the pretext of spending time with his brother and the Oda retainers, Nobuyuki gladly moved his base of operations to his personal villa in the castle grounds. Using his personal connections, he then hired the shinobi, Rekka, who in turn recommended Hazuki. Although Hazuki had failed in his infiltration, Nobuyuki is confident he will find the opening he needs to strike his brother down. Duality is a prominent trait with Nobuyuki. Many people do not suspect this side of him as they are too familiar with his welcoming and cordial public image. He stands for the weak and happily explains anything which may confuse his audience with a smiling visage. Nobuyuki's instances of humility and light-hearted jest are appreciated as a warm contrast to his brother's blunt honesty and sarcasm, many believing him to be a plain, simple-minded if dignified gentleman of the Oda family. The younger brother is often viewed as a supportive and dutiful sibling who believes in his brother's conquests. While his efforts and humble elegance are appreciated by his brother and his closest retainers, Nobuyuki has dwarfish popularity with the other residents and is often ignored. Yet the public remains ignorant of Nobuyuki's seething jealousy for his elder sibling; nearly half of his dialogue has a double entendre for his loathsome opinion for his brother. Nobuyuki feels he can't hope to compare to his brother's fearsome charisma or brilliance and tends to blame Nobunaga as the catalyst of his suffering throughout his life; the younger brother identifies his suffering as a tormenting "wind" which has haunted him since their father's death. He insists to his conspirators that he can only find rest from his torment by bathing in Nobunaga's blood, the expected action for a rebel of their age. In reality, Nobuyuki has been broken long ago by the traditions of the era. As a man of his stature, he is expected to kill his emotions for his family and duty or else be called weak by their followers; Nobuyuki is far too compassionate for his fellow man to ever devote himself to that expectation. Secretly fearing to confront his weaknesses and believing he has no other future for himself, the younger brother would rather choose the easy way out by lashing out in violence and anger. He is unaware or refuses to acknowledge that the true source of his torment stems from his inward refusal to truly hate his brother. Betrayal, in Nobuyuki's eyes, automatically means that the other party has been swayed by Nobunaga's magnetism. Everyone who he had trusted, be it their father or Shibata, left him in favor for his older brother. He hasn't opened himself to the words of his cohorts since then, too distrustful and too paranoid of being hurt again. Nobuyuki feels he can only trust the words of ninja. He knows they are tools obligated by duty to tell the truth and wouldn't dare risk their lives for a white lie. Before his ninja and conspirators, he acts as the cold rebel who claims to be merciful only when he deems it a necessity. He openly shows his vulnerability and uncertainty towards Momoji, his longest known acquaintance, yet Nobuyuki's deliberate attempts to act as his stern employer distances himself from accepting the shinobi as an equal.