Objecting to the relegation, Hirotsugu sent a report to the throne in the Imperial Court saying that the ringleaders who caused the disaster to the world were the two main people in the anti-Fujiwara group, KIBI no Makibi and Genbo.
広嗣は左遷を不服とし、天地の災厄の元凶であるのは、反藤原勢力の要である吉備真備と僧の玄ボウであるとの上奏文を朝廷に送る。