Immediately before the Seinan War he sent spies to Satsuma--on the pretext that they were returning home--in order to conduct a secret investigation both of SAIGO's supporters and the fuhei shizoku in Satsuma, plotting to create a rift within Saigo's inner circle; one sees from such examples that his abilities were showcased not so much in his general police powers as in his use of spies for intelligence work and tactics designed to throw a group into confusion or create an internal rift.
西南戦争が起こる直前にも、西郷や不平士族の動向を、帰省を口実に密偵を現地に送り込み内偵と西郷側の内部分裂を図るなど、川路の主たる実力は一般的な警察力と言うよりは、専ら忍者の類を使用した情報収集や攪乱・乖離作戦の戦術に長けていた。