By 1581, his talents had come to the attention of Oda Nobunaga, who accepted him as a direct retainer, and who granted him a 5000 koku fief in what is now Takahama, Fukui.

In 1582, Nobunaga was assassinated in the Honnō-ji Incident and he transferred his allegiance to Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Following the 1583 Battle of Shizugatake, he was made a yoriki-daimyō under Niwa Nagahide and transferred to Daishō-ji in Kaga Province with a kokudaka of 44,000 koku.

In 1585, following Niwa Nagahide's death, Hideyoshi recognized him as an independent daimyō, and the following year he changed his name from Sadakatsu to Hidekatsu.

In 1600, he sided with the Eastern Army in the Battle of Sekigahara and was thus confirmed in his holdings by the Tokugawa shogunate.