Kuniyuki is regarded as the founding master of the school, one of the five great traditions of Yamato Province, and his activity is placed in the late period. While sword compendia list many smiths of this group, extant signed works are exceedingly few; only a small number survive bearing signatures by Kuniyuki and Aritoshi, and most examples are pieces identified through appraisal. The school flourished from the late period through the era, producing blades that embody the essential character of the Yamato tradition.
The construction of Kuniyuki's surviving works displays the hallmarks of Yamato craftsmanship with pronounced clarity. Wide and a high plainly manifest the tradition's structural principles, while the — mixed with or — is consistently well-forged from base to tip. The is characteristically -based, with appearing along the , and intermingling to produce lively activity, and the tending toward ending in — features the identifies as "Yamato's traditional method." In certain works, a somewhat rough is mixed into the temper, introducing what the describes as "an element of temperament," a quality consistent with the older attributions by the family for blades of this group.
Despite the rarity of signed examples, the designated works confirm Kuniyuki as a smith of genuine accomplishment. A retaining a two-character signature following is praised as displaying his characteristic features "conspicuously" and is described as "an excellent work." The and across his corpus are noted for being "bright and clear," with and interweaving to give the steel a vibrant quality. These qualities affirm the school's standing among the five Yamato traditions and Kuniyuki's role as its defining voice.
