Promotion-seeking sekiwake Hoshoryu remained on top of the leaderboard in a three-way tie after outmaneuvering agile No. 4 maegashira Ura at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament on Sunday.
Newly promoted ozeki Kirishima, meanwhile, suffered an upset loss to No. 3 Midorifuji in a marathon bout that was paused midway so officials could re-tie the ozeki's belt.
Hoshoryu, who is looking to move up to the second-highest rank of ozeki, shares the top rung at 7-1 with No. 1 Nishikigi and No. 9 Hokutofuji after eight days of action at Dolphins Arena.
The 24-year-old Mongolian grappler was prepared for a low opening charge from Ura (4-4), grabbing the maegashira from above and quickly slapping him to the clay.
In the final bout of Day 8, Kirishima (2-4-2) locked up in an awkward position against the fast-moving Midorifuji (2-6) and eventually succumbed to an underarm throw.
The Mongolian formerly known as Kiribayama has looked less than 100% since sitting out the first three days with sore ribs.
Nishikigi, who held the outright lead before losing on Saturday, bounced back by pushing out fellow No. 1 Tobizaru (4-4).
The 32-year-old is on track for his first promotion to the distinguished sanyaku ranks and will only face lower-ranked opponents for the remainder of the 15-day tournament, having taken on and beaten most of the big names in the opening week.
The two other sekiwake stayed in the title hunt by improving to 6-2. Wakamotoharu showed great strength to force out 176-kilogram komusubi Kotonowaka (5-3), while Daieisho earned a forfeit win against No. 4 Asanoyama (4-4), who withdrew with a bicep injury.