Azai Nagamasa
Yoshikage benefited from military conflict between Oda Nobunaga and his brother-in-law, Azai Nagamasa (1545–1573).  Azai launched a pincer attack with Asakura against Nobunaga at Kanegasaki, but Nobunaga withdraw his troops, the coalition of Asakura and Azai forces failed to capture Nobunaga.  Later in 1570, in the Battle of Anegawa, Yoshikage and Nagamasa were defeated by numerically superior combined forces of the Oda and Tokugawa clans lead by Nobunaga and Ieyasu (1543–1616).