Uma Musume: Become a Legendary Trainer

Chapter 197: Strong Enemy in the Takamatsu Palace Cup
"You four should focus on adaptive training for the next few days."

The positive influence of the East Sea Emperor had an impact on Mejiro McQueen and the others, who also wanted to run with Oguruma and the others, but Kitahara shook his head and refused.

"On the one hand, you haven't fully entered the true form yet, and your physical fitness is not that strong."

He explained: "The test I just completed this morning was actually very intense. I may not feel tired now, but if I continue to run side by side with my seniors, the accumulated intensity will be different in the evening."

"On the other hand, it's fine to follow the seniors during normal practice, but what they're going to do next is rehearse for the competition."

"Many stages of the rehearsal are no different from the actual competition. With your current abilities, it's still too much of a stretch for you to participate in this level of training."

"Just complete the regular training seriously later, and spend the rest of the time learning by the side of the track."

"Xiao Gongshan, the subsequent training of the four of them is left to you."

Although the idea of ​​running alongside seniors is very strong, especially for someone as competitive as the Emperor of the East China Sea, he is unwilling to admit defeat even when facing seniors.

But Kitahara's tone of command this time was full of urgency, so the little guys were a little surprised but did not insist too much.

However, before following Xiao Gongshan to training, the Emperor of the East China Sea couldn't help but ask.

"Uncle, from what you said, Senior Inari's opponent in the Takamatsunomiya Cup this time is very strong?"

"But the president told me that if it's a competition of strength, the seniors don't need to worry too much."

"So what exactly is the problem with this competition?"

Beiyuan simply did not intend to let the East China Sea Emperor and the others participate in training beyond their capabilities, and had no intention of hiding the competition arrangements.

Hearing this, he thought for a moment, and seeing that Xiao Limao and the others were waiting for instructions, he took the opportunity to explain patiently.

"If we only compare basic abilities like speed and strength, Inari really doesn't have much to worry about."

"The opponents' situations have been investigated beforehand."

"Looking at their previous finishing data, the last three waves, cruising speed, etc., Inari has a big advantage just on paper."

Oguruma and the others had heard analyses like this many times during previous training sessions before matches. They knew that Kitahara was about to talk about the key points, so they listened attentively.

The Emperor of the East China Sea and the others were still unclear about Yongshi's habits. When several horse racing girls heard this, they showed thoughtful expressions one after another.

"On paper, this means..."

After muttering something in a low voice, the Emperor of the East China Sea suddenly had an idea, but before she could say it, Narita Bairen beside her suddenly spoke in a low voice.

"Does it mean that the opponent's actual running style or tactics are disadvantageous to Inari-senpai?"

As soon as these words came out, the Emperor of the East China Sea showed a look of regret. She had also thought of something similar, but was beaten to it by Narita Bairen.

In addition to her, Mejiro McQueen also frowned and nodded slightly, obviously having the same idea.

"Yes, you all reacted quickly, and that's the fact." Beiyuan nodded.

The horse girls invited by the team to participate in the training are all talented.

Although they haven't debuted yet, they are the best among their peers in terms of talent, intuition and knowledge of race walking, so it's not surprising that they have such a reaction.

After agreeing, Kitahara subconsciously looked at Inariichi, and seeing that she was also frowning, he shook his head helplessly and looked at Yusuhara again.

Yuhara also looked helpless, and when he received the gaze, he sighed.

"It's okay, Brother Kitahara. There's no need to hide this kind of thing."

He said in a deep voice: "Although Inari's situation stems from her own problems, it is not something that needs to be avoided. Moreover, we will practice and deal with it according to the ideas we have discussed later."

"And this is also a lesson that can be learned for Oguruma and the others, and the emperor and the others."

"Can you explain it in detail?"

The team will repeatedly investigate and analyze the game situation, opponent information, existing problems, etc. before any competition begins, and the Takamatsunomiya Cup is no exception.

Before coming to the Zhongjing stadium for the rehearsal today, Kitahara had a long discussion with his colleagues, so there was naturally no problem in explaining it now.

"Among the opponents in this Takamatsu Palace Cup, there are two horse girls who will be a bit troublesome for Inari."

Without hiding anything, Kitahara looked around and said in a deep voice, "Gu Shui Comet and Yuzhou Meng."

"Comet Gushui?"

As soon as Kitahara finished speaking, Mejiro McQueen was surprised, "Is it the horse racing girl from the Tanizu family?"

"Comet Gushui..."

Narita Bairen continued in a thoughtful tone: "I remember there was a girl named Gu Shui Shui in the class next to Roman and me. Is she Gu Shui Comet's sister?"

"That's right, Comet Tanizu, like McQueen and Aldant, is from the Tanizu family, a big family among Uma Musume."

Beiyuan nodded and said, "Gu Shui Jingling is her sister."

There are many famous families in the world of Umamusume.

The "Symbol Family" where Rudo Symbol comes from, the "Mejiro Family" where Mejiro McQueen and Mejiro Aldan come from, and the "Tanizu Family" where Tanizu Comet and Tanizu Crystal come from are all famous families.

Historically, the horse racing girl of the Gushui family was also extremely famous.

For example, before the Ludo symbolic era, Tanizumi Mutier was a very famous "double crown horse girl", with 18 wins in 12 career games, including the Hanshin Stakes, Gaoyue Sho and Japan Derby.

Her sister, Ryougi Tanizu, was also a strong player with 24 wins in 13 games, and won the Emperor's Autumn Viewing Award and the Arima Memorial Crown.

Compared with these two horse racing girls, what is more famous in later generations is the fine wine of Gu Shui.

Judging from the previous competitions of the horse girls of the Tanizu family and Kitahara's memories, this family of horse girls is very outstanding in strength, and is famous for their endurance and resilience.

Gu Shui Mujie and Gu Shui Liliang both have excellent finishing skills, and the numbers of 18 and 24 career games also show their strengths in endurance and toughness.

The same is true for the currently active Tanizu Comet and Tanizu Crystal, who has yet to make her debut. The former has participated in a total of 52 races in her career, and the latter has also participated in 40 races as a mare.

The length and intensity of this kind of victory are obviously rarely outstanding.

Although Gushui Wine has only had eight races in his career, no one familiar with this racehorse doubts its strength.

The horse kicked and broke four railings on the day it was retired and arrived at the ranch, and it continued to destroy things as it lived.

He showed no remorse for kicking his foot. After he recovered, he broke two railings to celebrate, and also taught his fellow ranchmates to kick the railings as well.

Of course, "kicking the railing" is somewhat playful, but the strength in his family blood is reflected vividly by the racehorse Vodka.

This racehorse only appears as a supporting role in the anime project and has relatively few scenes. However, its record of 7 G1 in its career and the glory of winning the Japanese Derby as a mare are actually things that the horse racing world cannot ignore in any way.

You should know that before her, the last mare to win the Japanese Derby Championship was 64 years ago by Nendo.

When all the opponents are stallions, Vodka is able to break through with great force, and the attribute of strength is not lacking in his bloodline characteristics.

Inferring from this, and adding all kinds of data obtained by the Nagase team, it can be confirmed that in this Takamatsunomiya Cup, if the timing is not right, Comet Tanizuki is likely to cause some trouble to Inari in terms of power.

Beiyuan naturally concealed the situation in later generations.

However, he only explained the available information in detail, and whether it was Oguruma, Inari and the others, or the younger ones like the East Sea Emperor, they all understood the situation of the game.

"Power...From what Kitahara said, that star seems to be in some trouble."

Oguruma nodded thoughtfully, then became puzzled, "But Inari has mastered the domain now, so if he uses this, there shouldn't be any problem, right?"

After these words were spoken, the Emperor of the East China Sea and others, who did not know enough about the domain, were unable to react for a while. Tamamo Cross and others who also mastered the domain were stunned, and then relaxed.

"Well, what Oguri said makes sense. I think that with the domain, Inari will definitely be fine."

Reaching out and patting Inariichi's shoulder, Tamamo Cross smiled and said, "In our usual practice, we will use the field as the training target."

"Inari shouldn't have to worry about that, right?"

"Oh, by the way, uncle, that Gu Shui Comet should not have mastered the domain, right?" For the eternal horse racing girls, the domain has now become a default ability.

The competitive advantage brought by this powerful state is unimaginable to ordinary horse girls. When Tamamo Cross and the others consider the competition, they will subconsciously refer to this standard for analysis more and more.

"Gu Shui Comet has not mastered any field. She has not had any particularly outstanding performances in previous competitions."

Although he admitted Tamamo Cross's guess, Kitahara did not relax. Instead, he looked at Yusuhara and hesitated for a moment, "But..."

"Just? Just what...?"

He responded subconsciously and was about to ask further questions when he suddenly heard a thoughtful whisper coming from beside him.

"It's just... I might be affected by something during this competition."

"……Why?"

After a moment of hesitation, Tamamo Cross turned around and was surprised to find that Inari looked unusually cautious.

“What’s the impact…?”

"Well, you see Alang didn't say anything, did he?"

Nodding and pointing at his trainer, Inari seemed very calm at the moment, not at all like his usual noisy self.

"I'm very familiar with Alang. If there were no problems with this competition, he wouldn't be so fussy as he is now."

"Since Alang didn't say anything after Uncle Kitahara said that, it means he must be worried about something."

"...I'm not fussy at all, I just..."

Yusuhara Taro didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Then he sighed and covered his forehead, "Okay, I am worried."

Then he became serious, "Inari doesn't have to worry at all if there is only one opponent like Comet Tanizu in this Takamatsu Palace Cup."

"I have carefully analyzed this with Brother Kitahara and Komiya-san. With Inari's current strength, we are confident that we can defeat her even without using the domain."

"It was just mentioned that among Inari's opponents in this competition, in addition to Comet Tanizu, there is also the horse girl Yuzhou Yume."

Now, the attention of all the horse girls shifted to the name that had just been mentioned, and they quickly realized what the name meant.

"Cosmic dream?! That's not..."

Mubai Aldan exclaimed in a low voice, looking a little worried. The super little bay beside her also frowned slightly and subconsciously continued:

"The champion of this year's Oaks Competition..."

The Oaks Race, also known as the "Excellent Mare", can also be transliterated as "Oaks" because the plural form of oak is "Oaks".

This race is equivalent to the Japanese Derby in the URA event system, the difference is that it is limited to female horse girls, so it can be regarded as a "derby event" specifically for female horse girls.

Although in the public's impression, the overall strength of female horse girls is slightly inferior.

But after all, the Oaks Stakes is a big prize that only a dozen out of thousands of horse racing girls can participate in every year, so the strength of the champion should not be underestimated.

Not to mention those far away, the Eternal Team is more familiar with Mejiro Takamine, who was the previous champion of the Oaks Competition.

Judging from the results of their daily side-by-side running training, even though Oguruma and the others have participated in many competitions and have never slacked off in training, they are still a little behind Mejirokamine in strength.

Of course, "triple crown" and "field-level" horse girls like Mejiro Takamine are rare after all. There are only 6 "female triple crowns" in the other world, and the field-level ones in this world are equally rare in Japan.

But all in all, a championship of the level of the Oaks Tournament should never be underestimated.

"That's really the case. I felt vaguely that you, Alang and uncle, were worried a while ago."

My companions were a little worried, but Inari was relieved, "It seems that was when I learned that there was a strong man of this level among my opponents."

"To win the Oaks Tournament, even if you don't have the top-level strength of Senior Gao Feng, at least you have been exposed to the field."

"This opponent is indeed strong enough."

"And if I'm not mistaken, she might still have some troubles."

"Perhaps, it is a particularly troublesome place for me to be alone."

"...I didn't expect you to be so perceptive at this time, Inari."

After listening to Inari's rare calm analysis, Yusuhara Taro was surprised, and then when he was about to explain, the former suddenly became dissatisfied.

"Hey, Alang!"

She jumped up and said, "What do you mean by being so sensitive at a time like this?"

"I've always been very perceptive, haven't I?!"

"Your face has become as sullen as the muddy track in the well these days. How can I not see that you are worried?"

"Uncle Kitahara only has few expressions, so it's hard to tell what he's thinking."

"But as long as I see you mumbling to him with a stern face, I can tell with my toes that things are troublesome, right?"

"Okay, okay, don't praise me too much."

She gradually started joking again, waving her hands and saying nonchalantly, "Since it has come to this, there is no point in worrying anymore, right?"

"And you all know so much about it. You must have thought of what the Oak Champion is so powerful about and how to deal with it."

"So, stop keeping us in suspense and make all the arrangements quickly and start training!"

As a contestant in this competition, Inari was not affected by his opponent's situation at all and was excited on his own.

Seeing this, even Yuhara, who had been really worried, couldn't help but cheer up, and Kitahara even laughed.

"Nice momentum. It seems that Yuhara is a little fussy, just like you said."

After making a joke, Yuhara on the side immediately looked bitter. Kitahara smiled again, but soon his expression became gloomy.

"Yuzhou Meng is able to become the Oak Champion because he has enough strength."

He said in a deep voice: "Needless to say, there is no problem with the basic ability."

"As for the field, our analysis shows that she has definitely set foot in it, but we don't know her specific level of mastery and the characteristics of the field. We are still analyzing these and will have results in the next two days."

“In addition to her basic abilities and areas, her strengths also lie in her running style and unique tactics.”

"That is what you guessed, Inari, which is disadvantageous to you."

Looking at Inari, Kitahara pondered for a moment and then continued:
"The running style she is good at is the first and second moves of the kingly style, and she is very adaptable in both aspects."

"And in terms of running, which she is good at, she is very good at man-to-man tactics."

"Inari, you are better at chasing than at being ahead or behind, which means that in actual combat, you will easily fall behind Yuzhou Meng in most stages."

"Her marking tactics will have an impact on your rhythm because of that."

"This influence is not a big problem for Xiao Li Mao and the others, but you have a problem, that is, once your rhythm is deliberately disrupted, it is easy to fall into rage."

"This is what Yusuhara and we have been worried about."

"Once you have emotional problems, it's hard to fully exert your strength. It's also hard for you to enter the field because it requires your full commitment."

"In this way, you not only have to face the pressure of the cosmic dream in front of you, but you are also forced to be affected by the Gu Shui comet."

"This horse girl is as good at chasing as you are. In other words, if your condition declines, you will have a hard time moving forward or running parallel."

"So the idea behind this rehearsal is to find a way to get Oguruma and the others to cooperate with you, simulate different game rhythms, and avoid the most unfavorable situation."

(End of this chapter)