In 1376, Yoriyuki made his younger brother Yorimoto HOSOKAWA supreme military commander and dispatched him to counter the Southern Court's military maneuvers in the Kii peninsula, but Yorimoto failed to subjugate the area, and the third Shogun Yoshimitsu, who had now reached adulthood, had the leader of the Yamana clan, a member of the anti-Yoriyuki faction, to sent as a replacement; moreover, he granted appointments to others of the anti-Yoriyuki faction, including Yoriyasu TOKI and the rehabilitated Yoshimasa SHIBA, to command military activities in Yamato.
1376年には紀伊での南朝方の活動に対して頼之は弟の細川頼元を総大将とし派遣するが鎮圧に失敗し、成長した3代将軍義満は反頼之派の山名氏を派遣させ、また大和での軍事活動には復帰した斯波義将や土岐頼康ら反頼之派に軍勢を与える。