During that time in Wakoku (671), Emperor Tenchi met an untimely death (although he may have died of illness, in "Fuso Ryakki" [A Brief History of Japan] it is said that he may have been assassinated based on the account that he went missing during a hunting trip in the mountains).
そのころ倭国では、671年に天智天皇が急死（『扶桑略記』では病死説の後一説として「一云天皇駕馬幸山階鄕更無還御永交山林不知崩所只以履沓落處爲其山陵以往諸皇不知因果恒事殺害」とあり山中での狩の途中に行方不明になったという記事を根拠にする暗殺説あり）。