His September 2012 division effort at "jūryō" 1 was where he managed to turn things around, achieving an 11–4 record and a chance at the championship which he lost to Jōkōryū in a playoff. This performance saw him promoted to "maegashira" 10. He achieved his first "kachi-koshi" or winning record in the top division at the third attempt in November 2012, and was promoted to maegashira 5 for the January 2013 tournament. In this "basho" he defeated his first ever "san'yaku" opponent, Tochiōzan, and came through with another winning record. Ikioi is now a "makuuchi" regular, and in the May 2014 tournament recorded an 11–4 at "maegashira" 5 and received his second special prize for Fighting Spirit. In September his bout against Ichinojo was stopped by the referee after he suffered a heavy nosebleed from striking Ichinojo's shoulder, a rare occurrence, but he still went on to win. He made his "sanyaku" debut at "komusubi" rank in the November 2014 tournament. However, he scored only six wins, and struggled badly when facing the top ranked wrestlers again, scoring only 1–14 at "maegashira" 2 in January and 2–13 at "maegashira" 3 in July. When dropped to "maegashira" 12 in September he returned to form, and after eleven days he was in second place with a 10–1 record. He then lost his next three but recovered to beat Amuuru on the final day to end with an 11–4 record and a Fighting Spirit prize. In November he produced his best performance in the top division, winning twelve matches and finishing in a three-way tie for second place. He also earned his fourth Fighting Spirit prize. In January 2016 Ikioi was ranked at "komusubi" again but recorded only five wins and was relegated to "maegashira" 4. He performed much better in March, posting a 10–5 record: only a loss to Kotoyuki on the final day prevented him from taking a fifth Fighting Spirit prize. With both "komusubi" and both "sekiwake" having losing records in that tournament, Ikioi was promoted to "sekiwake" for the first time for the following May 2016 "basho". He became the first "sekiwake" from Isenoumi stable since Tosanoumi was promoted in 1997.