"Wh-what?! What is this?!"
Holy Jacket, ranked second, felt her heart and legs tremble as she sensed the terrifying beastly aura emanating from behind her.
Even though she was still several lengths away from Rice Shower, the chilling aura behind her was impossible to ignore.
If Holy Jacket, who was still some distance from Rice Shower, felt this way, then one could only imagine how much more terrified the other Umamusumes gathered not far from Rice Shower were.
Glimmer Express's confidence crumbled the moment she realized she was losing speed.
The instant she fell behind Rice Shower coincided with the release of Rice Shower's Aura.
While Rice Shower's Aura wasn't specifically targeted at or aimed at any particular Umamusume,
the powerful mental fortitude she had cultivated through her own training meant that even Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen couldn't ignore it.
For these Umamusumes, who had only participated in a few matches or were even competing in a G3-level competition for the first time, it was as if a nightmare had descended.
In that instant, a bizarre scene unfolded at Kokura Racecourse.
Holy Jacket, who had just begun to accelerate ahead of Rice Shower, Glimmer Express, who had just been overtaken by Rice Shower, and the Umamusumes who were about to catch up with Rice Shower, froze, their expressions and movements completely still.
"Holy Jacket has started to accelerate... wait, not yet."
The commentator's words trailed off.
"Wako-dōjin, who was about to catch up with Rice Shower, has also slowed down."
"What happened? It seems they've all suddenly slowed down."
Not only did they slow down, but all the Umamusumes around Rice Shower involuntarily reached their trembling hands toward their lower backs, toward the ponytails swaying behind them as they ran.
Unable to suppress the trembling urge, their legs struggled to move forward, let alone accelerate, and even maintaining their direction instead of veering to the side became extremely difficult.
Aside from Holy Jacket, who was still some distance from Rice Shower, and Ogura Storm, who was too far away to be affected by Rice Shower at all, tears began to well up in the eyes of all the Umamusumes around Rice Shower.
The aura was simply terrifying.
But in an instant, this pressure vanished without a trace.
Of course, along with the pressure, Rice Shower's figure disappeared from beside them.
"Everyone suddenly slowed down. What happened?"
Ogura Storm, who was running in the lead, turned around upon hearing this and saw a group of Umamusumes slowing down at the entrance to the final corner.
Although she was puzzled, she felt mostly overjoyed.
This was practically a gift from heaven to make her the Grand Slam finisher!
"Although I don't know what happened, it seems I'm definitely going to become the Grand Slam finisher this time..."
Thump
Ogura Storm's smile froze on her face.
A sharp, clear heartbeat suddenly echoed in her mind, drowning out all other sounds in the venue.
At the same time, the commentator's shouts were accompanied by gasps from the audience and the rustling of clothes as people in the back seats stood up.
"Rice Shower is accelerating! Rice Shower is accelerating!"
"What speed! It's terrifying! She overtook Holy Jacket in an instant and is chasing Ogura Storm!"
"Rice Shower is here! Rice Shower is here! Rice Shower has finally unleashed her power!"
"Rice Shower is here? She just reached the final corner..."
Ogura Storm, suppressing a sudden surge of panic, forced herself to turn her head again toward the entrance to the final corner, but the words she was about to utter caught in her throat.
Because she realized that the petite black-haired figure she had just seen in the center of the crowd had vanished without a trace.
Before Ogura Storm's doubts could resurface, she suddenly felt a powerful sense of danger rise from the depths of her heart.
At that moment, an extremely dense and terrifying beastly aura emanated from her right.
"Eek—!"
Ogura Storm screamed almost simultaneously as Rice Shower appeared beside her. Before she could even turn her head, she had already reached out and grabbed the tail that had risen in fright.
This terrifying aura came and went quickly.
Ogura Storm had barely caught her tail when she felt the intense beastly aura vanish from beside her.
But along with it disappeared the faint white aura that had gathered around her due to her acceleration.
When Ogura Storm regained her senses, all she could see was the even smaller black-haired figure ahead of her.
Rice Shower was now surrounded not by a white aura, but by a dense black aura.
However, no flames ignited in Rice Shower's purple eyes, indicating that she wasn't using her Zone.
Even so, with her overwhelming aura and terrifying speed, she overtook all the Umamusumes ahead of her.
Rice Shower's sudden acceleration startled not only the Umamusumes present, the commentators in the commentary booth, and the live streamers, but also several Umamusumes from TCB.
"Trainer-san, did Rice use Zone again? She just recovered, and she used Zone again?" Smart Falcon asked in shock, quickly turning to Sakura Baimu.
"No, the speed feels off. This speed is much slower than when she was at Takarazuka Kinen…"
Mejiro McQueen's eyes were fixed on Rice Shower, who had already entered the final straight.
"The speed looks similar to McQueen's speed at the Tenno Sho in the spring. Is it the most basic level of Zone?" Tokai Teio asked. "But even the lowest level of Zone can cause damage to the body, right?"
"No, this is only Aura, not Zone," Sakura Baimu said calmly.
Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen hadn't even mastered Aura, let alone Zone, so they naturally couldn't see the specifics of Rice Shower's speed.
"Oh, I see. Rice has become so powerful..." Mejiro McQueen, upon hearing this, suddenly realized something was amiss and frowned, turning to Sakura Baimu.
"How did you know Rice activated Zone or Aura?"
"Yeah, Trainer-san, how did you know? McQueen and I couldn't tell. How could you tell the difference between Zone and Aura?" Tokai Teio, also noticing the inconsistency, asked in confusion.
"Huh? I remember only Umamusumes who have mastered Zone can see other people's Zones, and only Umamusumes who have mastered Aura can see other people's Auras, right?" Satono Diamond tapped her chin, looking at Sakura Baimu with equal confusion.
At that moment, the gazes of all five Umamusumes of TCB were focused on Sakura Baimu.