Uma Musume: From Being Knocked Ten Meters Away

Chapter 370 The Northern Black Steed in "Regression"
Wan Laizhengming clearly understands that a long period without playing will undoubtedly weaken his adaptability to the field, thus affecting his performance.

So, more than being confused, she was worried that if they met again on the track, Kita Genko would not be able to perform as well as Arima Kinen.

However, she has stopped worrying about it since the beginning of the show.

The fact that the Northern Black Horse displayed such swiftness upon leaving the gate, as well as its mastery of her outside-lane pressing tactics, demonstrates that this opponent's strength has not diminished despite her four-month absence.

Not only did it not weaken, it even... became much stronger.

This growing stronger, and the strategies the other party is currently employing, are another thing that confuses her.

In order to compete against the Northern Black Horse, she and her trainer studied a lot of the opponent's past races.

One conclusion they reached was that, compared to taking the initiative, many of the Northern Black Horse's tactical strategies were quite passive.

This is also one of the disadvantages of the escaped horse.

Just like playing cards or chess, where the escaped horse must seize the right position, these racehorse girls are essentially given the right to go first.

While there are many options for the first player, once a decision is made, all the remaining opponents can counter it with their own moves. This is the root of the disadvantage or passivity of the fleeing horse.

The Northern Black Horse's strengths in slow escape and escaping first further exacerbated this disadvantage and passivity.

This type of escape method cannot create much distance, which means that the tactical arrangements that can be made are quite limited.

Furthermore, because of the close proximity, most opponents can see its movements, and the confrontation will happen very quickly, which is extremely disadvantageous for the stamina that the leader already has to expend a lot of energy.

This is why, in past matches, Northern Black Horse appeared to be in the lead most of the time, but in reality, they did not have any proactive tactics.

She can only launch a countermeasure based on what her opponent does.

In addition, they also studied the trainer, Makoto Yasui.

"You can't judge someone based on their appearance as a newcomer at all," Wan Laizhengming recalled his trainer saying of Yasui Makoto.

"This person's training is indeed very rigid, or rather, very honest, which is a common characteristic of inexperienced newcomers."

"But his training tasks, competition tactics and strategies are very new, and many of his ideas are very rare, including the slow escape he arranged for the Northern Black Horse."

"If it were me, it might take me more than six months, or even a year, to determine whether the Northern Black Horse is suitable for a slow escape."

"And he arranged this tactic almost as soon as the Northern Black Horse made its debut."

"Perhaps it's speculation, or maybe it's something like talent, but in any case, his racing style is very predictable, and he can always design the most suitable races for the Northern Black Horse."

"Therefore, the Northern Black Horse cannot possibly wait for its opponent to make a move before launching a targeted counterattack on its own."

"Those countermeasures must have originated from trainer Makoto Yasui."

Based on this analysis, the Emperor's Spring Appreciation event, and even the various subsequent competitions, Wanlaizhengming and her trainer, were all designed based on the past performances of the Northern Black Horse.

However, besides its swift departure and powerful seizure of position, the northern black horse not far ahead gave her a completely unexpected and extremely strange feeling.

In her perception, the Northern Black Horse was definitely not slow; it was indeed the cruising pace commonly seen in long-distance races.

But vaguely, this pacing, or rather rhythm, gave her the feeling that the Northern Black Steed seemed to be...

It's "going backwards".

It's not just the sounds of nature that feel this way.

Following closely behind her and Northern Black Horse, one inside and one outside, Clever Maze and Medal of Honor also felt that Northern Black Horse's rhythm was strange. They hadn't expected to feel like they were "going backwards," but they could clearly sense that compared to the videos and information they had studied before the race, the figure in front of them was running in a completely different style.

It is indeed being led away, and is slowly escaping.

As soon as they get close, the other party will immediately accelerate to a certain extent to prevent them from catching up.

Once the approach is abandoned and the opponent resumes normal running, the opponent immediately maintains a stable cruising speed.

These are common techniques for runaway horses. It's not surprising that Northern Black Horse possesses such superb skills, given that it can stand on the G1 stage and has won many G1 championships and big prizes.

But why do I have this strange feeling...?
The female horse riders behind them kept up while their minds raced, and at the very front of the pack, Northern Black Horse was also keeping an eye on the situation behind them while analyzing the race.

With his eyes fixed on the approaching second bend, his ears, which had been blown down by the wind, twitched slightly. The Northern Black Steed nodded imperceptibly, secretly emboldened.
"Very good, just as the pre-match analysis predicted, everyone in Japan..."

"I definitely prefer this comfortable and leisurely pace of the game."

"Compared to this kind of competition, the match against California Sauce and the others was... too exciting and too intense."

"If things continue like this, then the tactics for this match, and even the victory..."

Unconsciously, as she analyzed the match situation and recalled the pre-match analysis and instructions, she became increasingly excited:

"The chances of achieving and accomplishing this are... extremely high!"

However, despite her excitement, she subtly reduced her speed.

This approach was one of the most important tactics in the Emperor's spring appreciation event, and also a crucial strategy for planning future events.

She and Yasui Makoto hope to reconnect with each other on the Japanese stage through this method.

After the Dubai competition, they spent a lot of time reviewing and analyzing the game, and consulted with seniors like Qi Cao many times. In the end, they came up with a possibility that belonged only to the Northern Black Horse and the possibility of touching the field.

That means the competition is becoming increasingly intense.

The synonym for domain is limit.

Whether it's the Air Tank Senior, the Idol Tokai Emperor Senior, or the Oguri Hat Senior who was also mentioned before as having domain-level strength...

When they talk about their fields, they all mention the word "limit".

It's not hard to understand. This state is about pushing everything to its limit. The only difference is the timing, mindset, and other factors that are not easy to control.

Compared to her predecessors, she is too optimistic and cheerful, and one could even say that she lacks a competitive spirit compared to many of her rivals.

The dream of "making the competition a lively festival" is not a bad one.

But if it's a festival where everyone is happy, where does the competition come from, where do the limits come from?

So whether it was by chance or luck, in that competition with California Shining, Frostfall, and Ronghouzaijue, for the first time in a fleeting moment, she felt a world and a moment where only victory or defeat mattered.

She still couldn't figure out what that world and that moment had to do with the "festival" she had always wanted.

But this did not stop her from deciding to trust Yasui Makoto and herself, and to make an extremely bold attempt at this G1-level Emperor's Spring Appreciation event.

The already slow escape, which was not far ahead, further reduced its pace.

While conserving enough energy and maintaining the most risky lead, try to replicate that fierce battle in Dubai on the final straight.

(End of this chapter)