However, documents left behind by Ito only placed importance on a conversation, and there is no record of him killing anyone, other than during the Aburanokoji Incident, nor are there any records of him trying to assassinate Isami KONDO, which led to the theory that plans for the assassination never existed.
ただし、当時の伊東の書簡は対話を重んじるものばかりで、伊東自身も人を斬った記録が油小路事件以外には無く、さらには近藤勇を暗殺しようとしたものがないため、近藤暗殺計画自体が存在しなかったとの説もある。