Hojo Moritoki's sister Akahashi Toko was the principal wife of Ashikaga Takauji, making Moritoki and Takauji brothers-in-law. In 1333, as Emperor Go-Daigo's anti-shogunate movement intensified, Takauji defected from the shogunate and seized the Rokuhara Tandai. Betrayed by his own brother-in-law, Moritoki as the last regent rode out personally to meet Nitta Yoshisada's assault on Kamakura, fought fiercely at the Battle of Suzaki, and died by his own hand. He is said to have composed a death poem: "The battle's wave — I do not resist the flow of time, floating as a wave upon the river." Caught between personal tragedy and public duty, he died as a samurai to the last.