Sukenaga was appointed to be Provincial Governor of Echigo by TAIRA no Munemori who was the successor of Kiyomori after his death in 1181, and was ordered to hunt down and kill MINAMOTO no Yoshinaka who had raised an army in Shinano Province.
清盛の死後の治承5年（1181年）、後を継いだ平宗盛から越後国越後守に任じられ、信濃国で挙兵した源義仲の追討を命じられる。