He was promoted to the top "makuuchi" division in May 1939, and reached the "ōzeki" rank in May 1941. After two tournaments at "ōzeki", he finished in a three way tie for the championship in May 1942 with Futabayama and Akinoumi, on 13-2. The championship was awarded to Futabayama (whom Terukuni had defeated in their individual match) simply because he was of a higher rank, as was the rule at the time. Nevertheless, after the tournament both Terukuni and Akinoumi were promoted to "yokozuna". At 23 years of age, Terukuni was the youngest wrestler to reach the "yokozuna" rank until the promotion of Taihō in 1961. He did well in his "yokozuna" debut, scoring 14–1, although he finished one win behind Futabayama, who won his last match by default.