Hyuga stays behind deflecting the attacks of Kongō's fleet to buy time for Iona and the others to escape. Before leaving Iwo Jima, Gunzō asks for Takao's help and she agrees to join his side. Unwilling to listen to Hyuga's words, Kongō fires her Super Gravity Cannon at her but fails to destroy her and orders Maya to fire her own cannon at the exhausted Hyuga but Takao appears in the nick of time to block Maya's shot. Believing that Hyuga and Takao are just covering the I-401's escape, Kongō tracks her down and gives chase, refusing to slow down even after passing through a minefield. Iona tries to reason with Kongō with no success and when the battleship attempts to fire her Super Gravity Cannon underwater to sink her, Hyuga takes advantage of Kongō's distraction to hack into her systems and have her lose control to buy enough time for Iona and Gunzō to escape. Takao then reveals to Kongō that instead of Takao, the true decoy was Iona herself, while the vibration warhead, Makie, Haruna, Kirishima and the rest of the I-401's crew were safely hidden aboard her and she returns to pick up Hyuga to rendezvous with Iona and Gunzō, who despite escaping from Kongō's grasp, are later ambushed and sunk by I-400 and I-402.