Aki-Takeda clan, which would become a large part of the Mōri navy later. First Siege of Toda castle From 1542 to 1543 Motonari followed Ōuchi Yoshitaka in the First Siege of Toda Castle. In this battle they penetrated deep into the Amago clan territory but their supply line was broken and Kikkawa Okitsune (吉川興経) betrayed them. Motonari surrounded Gassantoda Castle (富田城) but the Ōuchi troops retreated. During the retreat Motonari almost lost his life but his general Watanabe Hajime covered Motonari's escape with a heroic rearguard action. Motonari returned safely to Aki Province. As a result of the battle the power of the Ōuchi clan weakened. Extended Mōri clan power In 1544 Motonari gave his third son, Tokujumaru (徳寿丸), for adoption to the Numata branch of the Kobayakawa clan (沼田小早川氏) who were famous for their naval forces. Tokujumaru later became known as Kobayakawa Takakage. This same year Amago Haruhisa's expeditionary force attacked the Miyoshi clan in Bingo Province. Motonari dispatched generals Kodama Naritada and Fukubara Sadatoshi against Haruhisa but they were forced to retreat. Motonari lost his wife Myōkyū in 1545 and, crying, he did not emerge from his room for three days. Motonari then announced that he intended to enter retirement in 1546 and hand over the leadership of the Mōri to his son Mōri Takamoto. However, it was understood by all that Motonari was still the true head of the clan wielding all the power. In 1547 Motonari sent his second son, Shōnojirō (少輔次郎), to be adopted by the Kikkawa clan which was his deceased wife Myōkyū's family. Shōnojirō would become known as Kikkawa Motoharu. The head of the clan, Kikkawa Okitsune (吉川興経), was a rival of Motonari who had allied himself with the Amago clan in the 1540s. Motonari responded by pressuring Okitsune to adopt his son Motoharu and in 1550 Okitsune was compelled to retire, later being killed on Motonari's orders by Kumagai Nobunao (熊谷信直). Kikkawa Tsuneyo (吉川経世), who was the uncle of Okitsune stayed on as a retainer of the Mōri. In 1550 Motoharu entered the Kikkawa clan's main castle as its lord. Motonari also intervened in the succession of the Kobayakawa clan. His son, Kobayakawa Takakage was already head of one branch of the clan, the Numata. The other branch, the Takehara, had lost their clan head Kobayakawa Masahira (小早川正平) at the Siege of Toda Castle and the new head of the clan, Kobayakawa