 The title was vacated after Hashimoto suffered an injury at "Non-Fix 5/8" on May 8.He returned to DDT, a month later by defeating Shuji Ishikawa.He teamed with Seiya Morohashi to participate in the 2003 KO-D Tag Team League for the vacant KO-D Tag Team Championship, which they won by defeating Takashi Sasaki and Tanomusaku Toba in the tournament final on September 28.