time he fought his brother in a competitive match. Wakanohana was injured in the next tournament however, and the same thing happened after his third championship in January 1997. On that occasion he missed two tournaments and only just preserved his ōzeki status with a bare majority of wins upon his return in July 1997. He was a tournament runner-up on five occasions at ōzeki, four of those coming in 1996. Due to the dominance of Futagoyama stable (which Fujishima stable was absorbed into in 1993), he was excused from having to fight several top wrestlers including Takanonami, Takatōriki and Akinoshima. Yokozuna Wakanohana finally earned promotion to yokozuna in 1998 after winning two consecutive championships in March and May of that year. He had spent 29 tournaments at ōzeki before reaching the yokozuna rank, the third longest wait ever. He and Takanohana became the first pair of brothers to become yokozuna. However his time at sumo's highest rank was brief and injury plagued, and he was unable to add to his tally of championship wins. The best result he had as a yokozuna was in January 1999 when he came into the final day of the tournament as leader on 13–1. However he was defeated by Chiyotaikai and, in the subsequent playoff between them for the championship, he lost a rematch after the first bout was deemed by the judges to be too close to call, despite many observers feeling Wakanohana had clearly won the match. He was unable to complete the next three tournaments due to a leg sprain, and then his refusal to withdraw from his comeback tournament in September 1999 despite suffering a torn thigh muscle on the tenth day ensured that he became only the second yokozuna ever to finish a 15-day tournament with more losses than wins (the other yokozuna to suffer this fate was Ōnokuni, exactly ten years previously). He resolved to continue wrestling after consulting with his father, and was also supported by the head of the Japan Sumo Association, the former Yutakayama Katsuo, who said he saw no reason for retirement as his poor record was directly caused by injury. After sitting out the next two tournaments Wakanohana returned in March 2000, even though he was not fully recovered from his injury, with most observers expecting him to wait until May. After losing three of his first five bouts he announced his