 This was to be his only tournament in the titled "sanyaku" ranks.Over the next couple of years Tochinohana struggled to maintain his "makuuchi" position, and a serious back injury forced him all the way down to the unsalaried "makushita" division in 2004.However, he fought his way back to "makuuchi" in November 2005, where he finished runner-up to "yokozuna" Asashoryu, scoring eleven wins and receiving the Fighting Spirit Award.