The Ikko ikki initiated dozens of large-scale assaults (including the Battle of Kuzuryu-gawa River) in an attempt to restore their control over Yoshizaki-gobo Temple in Echizen Province, which had been usurped by the Asakura clan, and later, they fought with such powerful men as Nobunaga ODA and Harumoto HOSOKAWA, who had begun to fear that the sheer size of the Ikko riots (ikki) threatened to shake the very foundations of warrior rule; in the end, the Ikko ikki itself became somewhat analogous to Sengoku daimyo (Japanese territorial lord in the Sengoku period), and fought for hegemony over Japan.
朝倉氏に奪われた越前国吉崎御坊を取り戻すため何十回となく大規模な戦を起こしたり（九頭竜川の戦い）、一揆の拡大によって武家政権の基盤を脅かされることを恐れた織田信長や細川晴元ら権力者との争いを展開するなど戦国大名化して覇権を争ってもいる。