Saigo heard about the tense situation in Kyo-Osaka from Kuniomi HIRANO at the residence of Ichiro SHIRAISHI in Shimonoseki, and on March 22, he left via port to Osaka with Shinpachi MURATA and Shinzo MORIYAMA, and arrived at Fushimi on 29th, and they tried to stop the plans of extremist patriots who were to burn Kyoto and were raising an army.
下関の白石正一郎宅で平野国臣から京大坂の緊迫した情勢を聞いた西郷は、3月22日、村田新八・森山新蔵を伴い大坂へ向けて出航し、29日に伏見に着き、激派志士たちの京都焼き討ち・挙兵の企てを止めようと試みた。