Even after Motonari handed over his family estate to his first son, Takamoto MORI (the 53th), he continued to take command as a Sengoku daimyo (Japanese territorial lord in the Sengoku period); also, in order to destroy the Amago clan, he made Haruhisa AMAGO execute the Shingu-to group who were the pillar of their military affairs, as criminals (However, a more prominent opinion in recent years is that the purge of the Shingu-to was not conducted by the conspiracy of Motonari, but by the will of Haruhisa.)
元就は長男の毛利隆元（53代）に家督を譲った後も戦国大名として陣頭指揮を続け、尼子氏に対しては策略を以ってその軍事の柱石である新宮党を主家の尼子晴久に誅殺させた（しかし近年では新宮党粛清は元就の策謀ではなく、あくまで晴久の意志で実行されたとの見解が有力である）。