Yokozuna hopeful Goeido kept his eyes on the prize and muscled out winless No. 1 maegashira Aoiyama on Thursday to preserve his share of the lead a third of the way through the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament.
After chants of "Goeido" reverberated around Fukuoka Kokusai Center, the ozeki was given an early test by the plucky Aoiyama. But he dug in deep and sent the Bulgarian out with a two-handed shove to stay in a four-way tie at 5-0 with Mongolian yokozuna pair Hakuho and Kakuryu and rank-and-filer Sokokurai.
Back on the ring after injuries forced him out of the Autumn Basho, Hakuho was all business in the day's penultimate bout, easily thrusting down top-ranked Tochiozan (0-5).
Kakuryu rounded off the day's action by yanking out sekiwake Okinoumi (1-4).
The other Mongolian yokozuna, Harumafuji (4-1), had little trouble in dealing with Endo (3-2), grabbing the third-ranked maegashira by the throat and sending him over the straw bales.
Goeido also completed a clean sweep for ozeki wrestlers after Terunofuji, Kotoshogiku and Kisenosato also won.
Mongolian Terunofuji bumped out komusubi Mitakeumi (1-4) to post a comfortable third win, while New Year champion Kotoshogiku shoved second-ranked maegashira Yoshikaze (1-4) off the ring to improve to 2-3.
Veteran Kisenosato (4-1) moved to 11-0 in his head-to-head record against Kaisei (0-5), pulling the Brazilian-born No. 2 maegashira down after he had forced his way back from the edge of the ring.
At sumo's third-highest rank of sekiwake, Takayasu fell two wins off the pace when komusubi Tamawashi (3-2) sent him sprawling to the dirt with a well-worked armlock throw.
In the lower echelons of the makuuchi division, Chinese No. 14 maegashira Sokokurai forced out 11th-ranked Kyokushuho to keep his place among the leading group.
