After the Honnoji Incident, when Hideyoshi TOYOTOMI established his status as the successor of Nobunaga ODA at the Battle of Shizugatake, Takakage willingly got the Mori family in on Hideyoshi HASHIBA's task of unification of the whole country; in 1585, he was given a whole Iyo Province after the Conquest of Shikoku and became an independent daimyo (Japanese feudal lord).
本能寺の変後、賤ヶ岳の戦いで豊臣秀吉が織田信長の後継者としての地位を確立すると、隆景は進んで毛利家を羽柴秀吉の天下統一事業に参加させ、には四国征伐の功賞として伊予国一国を与えられて独立した大名となった。