He withdrew from the March 2009 tournament after breaking a metatarsal bone in his right foot during his 11th day bout with Kotoshōgiku. He had surgery on 8 April which put him out of action for at least two months, meaning he had to sit out the following tournament in May. He came back very strongly in July, winning his fourth "jūryō" championship with a 14–1 record. He reached "maegashira" 1 in March 2010, his highest rank in over four years. After that he comfortably maintained a position in the mid-to-upper "maegashira" ranks until he was injured in the November 2011 tournament, resulting in yet another fall to "jūryō". However he immediately returned to "makuuchi" after scoring 11–4 in January 2012.