One theory holds that the author must have been a Buddhist priest who was close to Masakado, because the author gave a very detailed account of TAIRA no Masakado's Rebellion and because both the general worldview expressed and certain specific episodes reveal a Buddhist perspective.
平将門の乱の一部始終を詳細に書き綴っていること、仏教的な世界観や挿話がある点から、将門の近くにいた僧侶が作者であるとする説がある。