Tokuitsu himself, who was the opponent of Saicho in the dispute, was a local Buddhist priest who moved to Togoku from youth and was active around there, but the Hosso sect of Buddhism which Tokuitsu belonged to was the center of Nanto rokushu which was the mainstream in the Buddhist world in those days.
最澄が論争相手とした徳一自身は、若年から東国に拠点を移して活動していた地方僧であったものの、彼が所属する法相宗自体は、当時の仏教界においては主流である南都六宗の中心であった。