The familiar energy radiating from Kitasan Black, combined with Kitajima Saburo's personal invitation after her enka performance, quickly eased the strange unease Yasui Makoto had been feeling. He followed her toward the banquet hall, just as he had the last time.
As if déjà vu, the elder offered his usual stream of heartfelt thanks before eagerly asking if there was anything he could do to help with the upcoming training and races.
Yasui Makoto hadn't been overly polite last time, and he saw no reason to change that now.
Conveniently, his plans already included several pieces of custom equipment for Kitasan Black. He could entrust the work to Kitajima Saburo without issue.
All of it was essential for "Extreme Stunts."
The concept had existed in his mind long before he ever met Kitasan Black. It was a training philosophy built around pushing limits through specialized movements drawn from extreme sports, adapted to the unique demands of each race and the individual traits of the Uma Musume he guided.
Only after actually beginning to train her did he realize how much more difficult it would be than he had imagined.
Few precedents for this approach existed in this world. While some methods came close, nothing matched exactly. On top of that, although an Uma Musume's body resembled a human's at first glance, the differences ran deeper than expected. What felt nearly impossible for a human could be far more achievable for her.
Take walking climb, for example.
Scaling a sheer rock face without tools, relying only on the most basic safety measures, was something no ordinary human could manage without extraordinary fitness, split-second judgment, and ironclad mental strength. Uma Musume already possessed the physical foundation in spades. After proper training, her abilities would surpass even the greatest human athletes, and the rest could be built through focused practice.
Because of that gap, many exercises that represented the absolute human limit in his old world simply lost their meaning here. To create new, meaningful challenges that could push her toward an even higher ceiling, he had to design them through real guidance and close observation of her actual condition.
After several months of working with Kitasan Black, he finally had enough hands-on experience. Recent training data and her performance in the Satsuki Sho showed that her physical abilities across the board had reached an ideal state.
It was time to introduce a brand-new, unprecedented special training method to this world.
"…So, what exactly is that 'special technique' the Trainer mentioned?"
Kitasan Black asked the question while strolling beside him along the white-gravel path in the Kitajima family's backyard.
"It's Extreme Stunts."
Yasui Makoto rarely spoke with that level of seriousness. A spark of excitement flickered in his eyes.
He glanced around, spotted a pavilion up ahead, and his expression brightened. Without another word, he walked straight toward it, unbuttoning his collar and cuffs before rolling his sleeves up to his elbows.
Kitasan Black blinked, curiosity written all over her face, and quickly followed.
"Simply put, it's a sport built around challenging limits," he said. "Human limits, of course. Uma Musume are on a completely different level."
They reached the pavilion. Yasui Makoto looked up at one of the stone pillars supporting the roof, tapped it lightly with a bent finger, then rubbed his palm against the rough surface. He turned back to her and gave a small nod.
"For example… like this."
Before she could react, he stepped back more than ten paces, eyes locked on the spot he had just touched. Then he exploded forward.
His body coiled like a fully drawn bow. After the briefest preparation, he sprinted straight at the pillar.
Kitasan Black's eyes widened. By the time she registered what was happening, he was already at the base.
"Trainer! Be careful—Huh?!"
She barely got the words out before he launched himself upward.
He planted his foot on a chosen pivot point, calf folding sharply, and shot nearly three meters into the air in a single bound. A second step on another point carried him another two meters higher. Two more quick steps followed, adding roughly another meter.
On the fifth step his upward momentum stopped. He slammed into the pillar, twisting his forefoot hard against the rough stone. Dust and small fragments burst from the surface and the edge of the tiled roof above.
His curled back snapped straight like a released bowstring. He flew backward in a clean parabola several meters long. As he fell, he used the rotational force from his last step to spin through the air.
One… two… two and a half…
He counted silently. The instant his toes brushed the ground, he reversed direction, bending his knees and dropping low as if to lie back. His arms swung behind him and met the earth at exactly the right angle. Using the remaining momentum, he flipped smoothly and rose to his feet.
He stood in the exact same spot where he had started his run.
Yasui Makoto looked down at the two sets of footprints, almost perfectly overlapped. He nodded once, then shook his head with a quiet click of his tongue.
"My sense of distance is still decent, but only two and a half rotations… I'm clearly out of practice."
The faint regret in his voice faded as he turned to Kitasan Black and smiled.
"How about it? Starting to get the idea?"
Her neck moved stiffly, as if the motion required conscious effort. Her heart was pounding just like it had when she crossed the finish line at the Satsuki Sho.
When she first saw him run up the pillar, wonder had filled her. The next moment came disbelief. She had seen similar moves in song-and-dance performances before, but never like this. He hadn't used his hands at all. He had simply run straight up the stone face for six or seven meters using only his legs and sheer momentum. Then came the mid-air rotations after falling from that height—another move she recognized from performances, but never combined with what came before.
And now she realized something even more striking.
After that entire sequence, he had landed exactly where he started.
It felt like everything had been planned down to the last detail, executed countless times before.
When her eyes met his, she saw a look both familiar and completely new.
She remembered the expression in her grandfather's eyes right before he stepped onto the stage. She remembered her own eyes in the mirror before every race. That same focused fire had always been there.
But she had never seen it in Yasui Makoto's eyes until now.
The veins standing out on his arms, his sharply raised eyebrows, the curve of his lips…
None of it was familiar.
In that moment he looked almost like a chief priest at a festival—completely devoted, almost fanatical.
Then, just as quickly, the intense expression vanished. His usual calm and rational demeanor returned as if it had never left.
"It's fine if you don't fully understand yet. That was only a relatively simple set of movements."
He glanced at the pillar, the familiar gentle smile back in place.
"For a vertical surface this rough, the human limit for a walking climb is around seven to eight meters. On the smoother walls used in professional competitions, the record sits just over four meters. After the climb, three and a half rotations in the air is about the upper limit. If the approach is harder, you can sometimes squeeze out more rotations or add other movements.
"But none of that really matters right now. What matters is that I'm going to design special training for you based on the principles behind Extreme Stunts.
"Uma Musume are already physically superior to humans, and your body is especially outstanding. You're ready. Do you remember what I told you that day?
"Unrivaled speed. This is how we take the true first step."