A 1940s revival of Japan's Number 13 design

What if Japan revived the Number 13 design with 1940s technology instead of building Yamato?

Japan could gain somewhat smaller, fast 18-inch battleships and free capacity for more carriers, creating dangerous mixed fast forces without Yamato's extreme scale.

The original Number 13 concept combined eight 18-inch guns, about 30 knots, and a hull near 50,000 tons. Its proposed protection included a 13-inch belt and a five-inch deck, so matching Yamato's heavier armor would require substantial changes. Number 13 was intended to obtain 150,000 shaft horsepower from 22 boilers, while Yamato developed the same power with twelve. A modernized fast design would need its machinery and displacement considered together. It could still remain smaller and quicker to construct than Yamato, freeing yard capacity for earlier or additional Taiho-class carriers. Its speed would allow it to operate with the Kongos and reinforce night actions against American capital ships. An 18-inch-gunned ship held farther back could make those encounters much more dangerous for the Americans. At close range, however, the first effective hit could decide the engagement.