Uma Musume: Become a Legendary Trainer

Chapter 136: Team Showdown after One Win and One Loss (8k)

The result of the Wakaba Tournament was the victory of Sakura Chiyoou.

Super Cove lost the match by a narrow margin of a neck.

On the TV screen, there was a close-up of the girl with short cherry-red hair. From her sweaty and panting posture, one could tell that she had tried her best in this game and won the honor she deserved.

Behind that figure was the brown-haired horse girl who was also panting. It was the first time for her to show such tiredness and unwillingness in a competition, which was extremely difficult to imagine for her who already had extraordinary endurance.

From the speakers came the passionate voice of the commentator.

"Although it was very thrilling, Sakura Chiyoou finally held on to that slight advantage!"

"Let's congratulate her!"

"Congratulations on her victory, and also congratulations on her for winning 1 point for her team in the 'Eternity vs. Beyond' match!"

In the background of the shouting, it is obvious that it is the shouting from the audience. If you listen carefully, you can hear that they are shouting the words "Sakura Chiyoou" and "surpass".

The commentators and the audience, including those who followed the three games today, completely equated the race between the horse racing girls and the two teams. This is not difficult to understand. Often one game can make the audience excited. Today's three consecutive games have added to the victory and defeat between the teams, making the expected outcome more complicated and eye-catching, and also magnifying the excitement several times, almost to madness and fanaticism.

Compared with the enthusiasm on the screen, everyone in front of the screen, whether it was Kitahara, Mejiro Altan, New Glory and Miyamura Kyoko, or the members of the Beyond Team, or Ludo Symbol and Maruzenski, seemed much calmer.

It was not only because the situation regarding Chiyo and the Little Bay had been fully analyzed before the game, but also because as soon as the game started, Kitahara, Luduo, Maruzen and others successively made bad noises.

Super Xiaowan failed to detect Sakura Chiyo's tactics at the first time, and still guided the rhythm of the game of other horse girls according to the familiar tactics.

She accelerated once out of the gate, speeding up the pace of the entire race, making both her and Sakura Chiyo look like they were in the lead.

However, everyone here knew that she did not want to take the lead, but only wanted to adjust the rhythm of the game to a situation that she was good at.

If it was a different opponent, she might have been affected by her, but unfortunately, Sakura Chiyoou fled with all her might as soon as she came out of the gate. She didn't care about the pace behind her at all, she just needed to escape all the way to the end.

In this way, Xiao Haiwan consumed his physical strength in advance but failed to affect the rhythm of all opponents. Sakura Chiyoou gained a subtle advantage and retained this advantage until the end, turning it into a winning advantage.

The game was now completely over, and Luduo could not help but sigh for this start that was so close but ended in failure.

"The first two games really had the same ending."

She looked at Kitahara, then at Mejiro Aldan and Yae Mudi, "In the first spring tournament, Yae Mudi didn't expect that Aldan's greatest ability was to be able to maintain his tactics even when he was exhausted, which led to his regretful defeat."

“Aldan is also outstanding, not only in his ability, but also in his wonderful use of this ability.”

The corner of Aldan's mouth twitched, and he wanted to smile in response to the student council president's praise, but when he caught a glimpse of the scene at the Hanshin stadium and thought of his teammate's narrow defeat, he finally just sighed silently, without any joy of victory.

Yae Mudi was in a similar mood. Although Sakura Chiyo won, she lost the game. This mixture of joy and regret made her unable to laugh.

"Then, at the Hanshin Arena, we were at a slight disadvantage because we failed to detect the opponent's tactics."

Luduo continued to speak, and suddenly shook his head.

"No, it should be said that Xiao Haiwan seemed to have discovered Chiyo's tactics later, because she no longer tried to lead the rhythm of other opponents, but chose to accelerate in advance, but it was already a little too late by then."

"It's a pity, but both of them tried their best and it was a wonderful game."

"So, Chief Kitahara, what do you think about the last Yayoi Sho?"

Kitahara hesitated a little.

He actually wanted to contact Xiao Haiwan at this moment, listen to her feelings and talk to her.

He still remembered how unwilling Oguruma was after losing in the training match, and knew that for horse racing girls, it would be best to have someone to accompany them when they feel defeated.

Moreover, as Luduo said, it was a pity to lose this match. Although Xiaohaiwan failed to detect Sakura Chiyo's tactics at the beginning, he was able to react in the subsequent race. He just wasted some energy in advance and accelerated a step late, which led to the defeat by a neck. This kind of loss is obviously more difficult to accept than a complete defeat.

It’s just that Rudo mentioned the last game symbolically, and he couldn’t help but respond. He also needed to consider whether to make some adjustments to the arrangements for Oguruma based on the situation of the first two games.

"President Lu Duo, like everyone else, now regards today's three games as a showdown between our two teams."

While thinking, Kitahara made a joke.

"Ah, this feeling is quite new."

Lu Duo did not deny it, but looked at Maruzen in remembrance and laughed, "This reminds me of when I was competing with Qianming as a junior, the public opinion seemed to be the same, promoting our match as a duel between the 'Triple Crown'."

"…Luckily Qianming isn't here, otherwise she would be embarrassed."

Knowing the result of the competition that year, Maruzenski smiled intriguingly, "After all, in the so-called 'Triple Crown Showdown', she didn't win once..."

"Uh...this..."

Lu Duo twitched his lips symbolically, as if he wanted to laugh, but in the end he just coughed twice, looked at Beiyuan, pretending that he hadn't said anything just now, and then continued to ask questions.

"Ahem, anyway, what do you think of the last Yayoi Sho? Or..."

She looked at Yae Wudi, Di Ye Yixing, and Kouchi Zhong again.

"After knowing the tactical arrangements of the Beyond Team, don't you have any plans you want to adjust?"

Yae Wudi's ears suddenly perked up, and Di Ye Yixing and Kouchi Zhong also looked at Kitahara with a cautious look in their eyes.

The horse girl and the two trainers have now discovered that the chief trainer of the Eternal Team is definitely as capable as Nanase Fumino in all aspects, and even has more experience and adaptability.

Similar to Kitahara's previous analysis of Kobayashi and Chiyoou who participated in the Wakaba Championship, Nase Fumino had also done so before, and there was almost no difference between what the two said. However, the latter came up with tactical arrangements and countermeasures after sufficient investigation and analysis before the game, while the former gave the same idea without hesitation.

They didn't know that Kitahara could react so quickly, not only because of his past experience, but also because he knew more classic matches and related tactics. These tactics, like the various training methods he knew and used, came from the future of another world. Here, except for legendary horse girls like Luduo who had the experience to deal with them, only extremely talented trainers with equally rich experience could master them.

And as if to respond to the expectations of Yae Wudi and the others, Kitahara thought again and shook his head without hesitation.

“I’m not going to adjust.”

After saying this, he looked around at the surprised eyes looking at him, and said in a deep voice: "Little Limao... just run as hard as you can, that's enough."

"Run at full speed?"

Lu Duo's eyes lit up and he was the first to react, "Chief Beiyuan means..."

"What I mean is simple."

Looking around, his gaze finally met with Yae Wudi, Di Ye Yixing and Kouchi Tadashi, and Kitahara curled the corners of his mouth.

"The duel between Yongshi and Chaoyue. Since everyone has said so, let's fight it out seriously to the end."

"Since the Beyond Team intends to fight head-on, then let's have a thorough head-on fight in this final round."

"Didu Shooter should think about nothing else in this Yayoi Sho and run as hard as he can, right?"

"It just so happens that this is exactly the running style that Xiao Limao likes the most and is the one he is best at."

"She won't lose."

Kitahara said the last sentence with such finality that the others couldn't help but be surprised.

"Such strong confidence, Chief Kitahara..."

Luduo nodded slowly, "It seems that you really value your first horse girl."

She smiled and said, "So, don't you need to go to the contestant waiting room and tell her about this trust?"

"I think after hearing what you said, she will definitely be more confident."

Beiyuan also smiled and shook his head slowly.

"What Oguruma said... is useless."

"No need?" This time, not only Rudo was stunned, but everyone else was also surprised. Only Maruzenski was surprised, with a hint of thought in his eyes, and nodded slightly without making any expression.

"Yes, no need."

After affirming, Kitahara took a few steps towards the window of the room, lowered his eyes, passed the audience seats and the track, and looked at the contestants' waiting area on the other side.

"Oguruma will understand how to run this game, especially now that she has learned the results of the Spring Tournament and the Wakaba Tournament through the broadcast. In this way, she will definitely know what to do."

Looking into the distance, as if explaining to others or mumbling to himself, he whispered, "She usually looks a little indifferent, or a little naive."

"In fact, she is very alert most of the time, especially in competitions."

"She may not be able to figure out what happened in the first two games, but she knows that this game will be the final showdown after one win and one loss."

"She will know how to run to win the race this way."

"In that case, if I continue to cheer her up and trust her, I might end up giving her unnecessary pressure."

"So, she just needs to focus on running with all her strength."

Just as Kitahara murmured his trust in Oguruma, the announcement of the players' entry was soon heard at the Zhongshan stadium.

"Oh, it's my turn now."

After hearing the broadcast, Oguruma, who was doing some simple activities in the players' lounge, moved his ears but did not rush to leave.

She was stretching her legs at the moment, with one of her long legs in black tight sports pants pressed straight against the wall, and the other long leg pushing straight against the ground, forming a diagonal split with both legs. After doing several sets of stretching, she retracted her legs and jumped on the spot.

"Very good, in excellent condition, huh—"

She let out a long sigh and walked towards the door, whispering, "Don't worry, everyone. I don't quite understand why this has suddenly turned into a duel, but..."

"I won't lose this last game."

She had heard about the first two games through the radio. She didn't know what happened, but she heard something like the score was now "1:1" and it all depended on the outcome of the next Yayoi Sho. So she should just keep it simple and not think too much about this game and just try her best to win the last one.

What she didn't know was that this was exactly the thought that Kitahara had said in the viewing hall before. She just walked out of the lounge with this thought in mind and was stunned.

Outside the door was the shooter Didu with a casual smile on his face.

"Yo, you're full of fighting spirit, monster."

As she spoke, she made a pistol gesture, aimed at Xiao Limao, and raised her hand with a "whoosh".

"How about it, are you confident that you can avoid my 'chestnut bullet'?"

He originally wanted to use a joke to arouse the fighting spirit of his respected opponent, but soon, Dido Shooter was surprised to find that Ogurita simply tilted his head with a puzzled expression.

"Why avoid it?"

Oguruma seemed to have heard something strange, but his tone was as if it was normal.

"I don't know what the bullets you're talking about are, but if I avoid you, won't you surpass me?"

"I won't avoid you. It's up to you to do whatever you want."

"A bullet or something like that can never be faster than a monster like me."

"Oh, by the way, if you don't have anything else to do, I'll go to the show circle first, because I'm the most popular person today, and I want to be the first one out."

"...No? Then I'll be leaving first. You should catch up quickly, or it will be bad if you delay the game."

In the end, the excitement just now seemed to have never happened. Xiao Limao completely regained her usual innocent and naive air. She tilted her head to look at Didu Shooter, and felt that she seemed a little dazed, so she kindly reminded her and left.

...Tsk, although I knew this guy has such a silly personality, but...

It was some time after Little Chestnut had left that Didu the Archer slowly turned around, his mouth twitching, and he stared at the direction where the former had just left with his shrunken pupils.

Still... angry.

Is it amazing to be the most popular person?! Haven’t I ever been there?!
Don’t wait until I’m the most popular and you’re the second most popular!

He originally wanted to come over and inspire the fighting spirit of Ogurita, but it turned out that the other party didn't need his encouragement at all. Instead, he was filled with anger and shooter Didu became a little crazy.

Just at this moment, the broadcast in the waiting area sounded.

"Excuse me, where is Dido Shooter? It's your turn. Please ask the horse girl or staff who have met Dido Shooter to help lead the way. Thank you very much."

"…I know, I know! Are you going to make a fuss? It's not like I don't know the way!"

After stomping his feet and complaining a few words at the broadcast hanging on the ceiling, Didu Shooter snorted, clicked his tongue, and ran towards the stage circle.

Apart from this incident, the rest of the Yayoi-sho process was normal. Soon, with the commentary, all the horse girls entered the gate one by one.

...After the previous race, the grass condition is actually better. At least the muddy part due to yesterday's rain has been compacted a lot, and the field is also drier, so it is close to being in good condition.

Silently entering his own Gate No. 3, Didu shooter was lost in thought. He crossed his fingers and shook his wrists, while he also took turns tapping the ground with his toes and twisting his ankles.

Nice venue, close to the inside track, good physical condition…very good.

It is totally possible... to compete with each other!

Thinking of this, she slightly tilted her head and looked in the direction of the outermost gate, and was soon stunned.

She knew that Ogurume was at the outermost gate No. 16 today, and the commentary also said, "Please enter the gate, Ogurume on the outer side."

However, when she turned around, she saw that the horse racing girl with long silver-gray hair was standing at the outermost gate, just a few body lengths away from the gate, and she was obviously trembling.

The strange thing was that despite the trembling, her opponent's expression did not seem to be afraid at all, but instead was filled with a strange excitement.

...What is this... that excitement?
After being stunned for a moment, shooter Didu quickly remembered that there seemed to be some mention in the reports that in every game, Oguri would be as energetic as a samurai before going to the battlefield. It seemed that there was a specific name for this called "warrior's energy".

But she did not continue to recall the past, because Little Chestnut Hat had already let out a breath, moved his lips, and walked straight towards the gate.

At the same time, the commentary sounded appropriately.

"The Oguri Hat on the outside has entered the gate! G2 Yayoi Award, 2000 meters on grass, now... it starts!"

"Start!"

When he heard the first half of the sentence, Didu the archer deliberately reduced his attention to hearing, staring straight ahead, and only paying attention to the gate with his peripheral vision.

This is a little trick that Fumino Nase deliberately emphasized during training.

The speed of sound propagation is much slower than that of light. Hearing the "start" with your ears or the sound of a gate opening is definitely slower than seeing it with your eyes.

The moment you see the gate move, you should rush out with all your strength. Once you get familiar with this, your start will be at least a few tenths of a second faster.

Never underestimate these few tenths of a second. Often, the outcome of a game is often determined by the accumulation of such tiny gaps, and even the final victory depends on this tiny advantage.

Shooter Didu is very accustomed to this kind of training method. Her trainer Kouchi Zhong is just such a taciturn but meticulous person. The latter may not talk much, but she can calculate the daily nutritional meal intake ratio to three decimal places. She has long been familiar with this method.

She was also very accustomed to this method, so she followed the tips given by Nanase Fumino meticulously, and she clearly felt that she was indeed a little faster than the other horse racing girls next to her.

Very good! Perfect exit!

Next... the inner path!
With a lead of a few seconds, shooter Didu moved inside without hesitation and firmly occupied the most energy-saving position.

This has nothing to do with tactics, it's all about basic skills.

Unless it is necessary, stick to the inner lane to save energy. Any horse racing girl who has undergone training will definitely have this running concept engraved in her body and turned it into an instinct.

So, are you going to compete with me for this position, Little Chestnut?

If you really want to grab it, I may give you a chance. We can share this great position together, because...

His peripheral vision slowly shifted to the outermost part, and archer Didu felt that the blood in his body seemed to be gradually boiling.

I want to have a fair and head-on fight with you, this monster!

Come on! Little Limao! Let me see if you, a monster, can open more of mine...

what? ! ! !

You idiot...what are you doing? ! !

He felt as if the blood in his body was flowing backwards for a moment, and his blood pressure inexplicably soared for a moment. Shooter Didu thought that he was most likely dazzled.

Because, Oguruma didn't even look at the inner road at all, she was running completely on the outer road!
She didn't seem to lean to the inside from the beginning, and she hasn't changed her track since she left the gate!
Are you... stupid? ! !
No one is blocking you, why are you running to the other side? ! !
Shooter Dido was extremely shocked. She had no idea what Little Chestnut was thinking.

Not only her, but also the commentators and the audience exclaimed in amazement.

"Wait, wait! Is this really the Yayoi Tournament and not the previous Spring Tournament? How can they be so similar?"

"No, no, no, we can't say they are completely similar. The Didu shooter in this match is not like the Yajue Invincible in the previous match. In the early and middle stages, she was blocking the right front of Oguruma. There was even a certain amount of space around her, as if she had left extra space for Oguruma!"

"Moreover, with Oguruma's leg strength and skills, it should be easy for him to get into that position, but..."

"I don't know whether he didn't see that position or he had his own plans. Anyway... Oguruma is still running firmly on the outer lane!"

"Doesn't she know that the outer path will run a lot of extra distance?!"

"Or is it that she is absolutely confident?! Confident that she can still win the race after running a few dozen extra meters?!"

The commentator's questions caused exclamations from the audience, and even the comments in the viewing hall became confused and puzzled.

"Oguri...what on earth is going on...?"

Mejiro Aldan frowned slightly, "I admit that her running strength is indeed much stronger than mine. She can make up for the extra dozens of meters with her last breath."

"But, since there is obviously a better opportunity right now, why not occupy the inner path?"

Yaezhe Wudi hesitated for a moment.

"Could it be that she didn't notice?"

She wondered, "As for Dido, I should be able to guess what she's thinking. She has said more than once before that she wants to fight with Oguruma one-on-one. This behavior of giving up the inner path should be because she doesn't want to take advantage of her physical strength."

"It's just that Xiao Limao probably didn't think of this, nor did he pay attention to it."

"It won't be like that."

Shining Glory suddenly interrupted. She was one of the horse girls who was most familiar with Oguruma and had run on the racetrack herself. She took a deep breath.

"Oguri is a much better talent than me, not only in terms of footwork and physical strength, but also in her ability to grasp the overall situation at all times during the game."

"She must be able to feel the inner path that Didu gave up."

"The ability to control the entire field?" Yae Wudi asked in surprise:

“Is that the kind of ability you developed through blindfold training?” Being in the same class as Oguruma and other horse girls from the Eternal Team, she knew about blindfold training and had asked about it out of curiosity. She learned that this training was meant to improve one’s ability to control the racing field.

"No," New Glory shook his head, "Before the blindfold training, Oguruma had that ability. He was even the only one in the Eternal World who had this ability."

"The subsequent blindfold training only strengthened this point for her."

"In short," she pursed her lips, "Xiaoli... must have her own plans."

"There's no mistake. She definitely has a plan to win!"

While the horse racing ladies were communicating, Kitahara was also thinking silently, and Ludo Symbol and Maruzenski were also talking in low voices.

"Completely ignoring the better position and just running her own race? Is that what she was thinking...?"

Muttering to himself, Lu Duo pinched his chin and frowned slightly, "However, the distance difference between the inner circle and the outer circle is very surprising. With only a distance of 5 meters, the total length of the inner and outer circles will increase by dozens of meters."

"The 1800m race between Mejiro Altan and Yae Muto was better, and they also made adjustments on the slope, but Oguruma... doesn't seem to have any intention of adjusting at all."

"Perhaps the extra distance won't exhaust a horse girl like her, but..."

After hesitating for a moment and not being able to come up with an idea, she couldn't help but look at her friend, "Maruzen, do you have any ideas?"

“… Me, I don’t have any either.”

Maruzenski admitted with a frank smile that he had no idea, then bent his eyes and looked at Kitahara.

"Hey, Ludo, instead of guessing here, why don't we ask the trainer of this amazing horse girl?"

Hearing this, Lu Duo's eyes moved, and he couldn't help but look at Beiyuan.

"Chief Kitahara, what do you think...?" she asked with a little curiosity.

"…She was trying to use the extra distance to distribute the rhythm."

When listening to what everyone said just now, Kitahara also roughly thought of Oguruma's idea. After all, this is his first horse girl. Many times and many things do not need to be said to her face.

"The reason is very simple," Kitahara looked back at Luduo Symbol and Maruzenski, and then glanced at the others who were looking curious, and said slowly:
“Running in the inner lane can indeed save energy, but this has two effects.”

“The first impact is that when you cut into the inner lane, you must adjust your speed, posture, and pace, which will affect the rhythm of your entire body.”

"The second is the influence of body rhythm, which is when rushing out from the inner lane."

"Aldan and Yae Wudi have just experienced such a match, so they should know very well that the rhythm of the inner path is completely different from that of the outer path. When switching, it is even a third rhythm, which requires the body to have extremely good adaptability."

Mebai Aldan and Yae Wudi looked at each other and nodded at the same time. Aldan said in a deep voice:

“Yes, even when going up and down the slopes and competing with Yae, I made more position changes and felt more rhythm adjustments.”

"I think if I hadn't been able to stay awake enough and adjust my body rhythm in time, this excessive switching would have greatly affected the overall speed."

Yae Wudi was silent for a while.

"Yes, I am the same, but I am not as good as Aldan," she admitted succinctly.

"This is it."

Kitahara also nodded, "Just like you need to warm up before a game, you also need to warm up before a sprint."

"It seems that Xiao Limao ran a few dozen meters more, but we all know that this distance is nothing to her."

"She doesn't need to adjust her rhythm throughout the race. Her body will fully adapt to this speed in the first and middle stages of the race, completing the 'sprint warm-up'. When she really starts sprinting, she will get into the state faster."

"This way, after the fourth turn, she will be able to fully unleash her terrifying last kick and really go head-to-head with all her opponents."

"However……"

He turned his head and looked at the horse girl running on the screen. He first stared at the figure with long silver-gray hair for a while, and then looked at the other figure with short chestnut hair.

"...If Didu is a shooter, she should be prepared to rush out from the inner path."

"Otherwise, her sprint and the peak of her sprint will come much later than that of Oguruma."

Now, everyone's eyes were fixed on the screen.

"What a bold strategy... a masterful Uma Musume."

Luduo symbol suddenly spoke, then was stunned, chuckled to himself for a while, then seeing that no one around was laughing, frowned slightly, curled his lips regretfully, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Huh - then let's see how this head-on confrontation between monsters and bullets ends..."

The 2000-meter race only takes two minutes for the horse racing ladies. While they were analyzing in the viewing hall, the figures galloping on the track had already passed the third turn at lightning speed.

The commentator's voice gradually became louder.

“The runners are about to reach the fourth turn, which is the ramp and the final straight!”

"So who was the first one around the fourth turn... at the same time! At the same time! The most anticipated players of this game, Ogururi Hat and Dido Shooter, took action at the same time!"

"It was as if they had discussed it all before the game. One of them was not stingy in showing off her amazing running strength in the outer lane, while the other kept occupying the inner lane and saving her energy from the beginning. Now, which tactic of going all out is better, or which running method of conserving energy is the best in the whole field? We... can finally get a glimpse!!!"

"Ramp! It's a ramp! Two horse girls stepped onto the ramp, one inside and one outside!"

"The only person on the outer track is Oguruma herself, and she is climbing up the slope without any hindrance! Although Dido Shooter took some time to avoid the horse girl who lost speed in front of her, she is still following closely behind!"

"The gap between the two is pretty close. Now Oguruma is leading, and Dido is two lengths behind! We are about to reach the top of the slope!"

"The short straight road at the top of the slope is here, followed by a smooth downhill run. The two horse girls are still two lengths apart, and both have enough stamina. So..."

"Who will win in the final straight?!"

"Today is the third battle of the Gaoyue Sho Outpost, an unprecedented showdown between two teams. Which team will come out on top?!!"

I originally wanted to write 5k, but there were some minor mistakes in the last chapter, and the reason I adjusted the update time today is because I didn't make good arrangements for the follow-up when I sorted out the 20 words for the previous release, so I'll write 3k more today.
Today's total is 1. Thank you for your tolerance! Thank you very much!

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(End of this chapter)