In Mitsuhide's writings "Akechi-kaho" (family rules of the Akechi clan) written one year before the incident, Mitsuhide wrote a sentence that reads "I was set up in the world by Nobunaga from the status like a pebble and I owe him a lot. My family and vassals including their descendents should not forget to serve to Nobunaga."
本能寺の変前年に光秀が記した『明智家法』によれば、『自分は石ころのような身分から信長様にお引き立て頂き、過分の御恩を頂いた。一族家臣は子孫に至るまで信長様への御奉公を忘れてはならない』という趣旨の文を書いている。