 By sixteen, he was assigned prefect ("bugyō") in charge of the construction of "shōgun" Ashikaga Yoshiaki's residence at Hongaku-ji, working with the likes of Sugaya Nagayori, Ōtsu Nagaaki, Yabe Iesada, Hasegawa Hidekazu, Manmi Shigemoto and Fukutomi Hidekatsu.Gradually, however, he began to spend more and more time on the battlefield.In 1575, he aided in Nobunaga's assaults on the Ikkō-ikki of Echizen Province, and fought the Saika Ikki two years later, leading Nobunaga's army alongside Hashiba Hideyoshi and Sakuma Nobumori.