After the break, Hoka and Yumi were called down.
Both took their stances. Hoka activated his Byakugan, while Yumi's eyes began glowing. Having seen all her comrades getting hit by sneak attacks, she would focus her chakra in her eyes and see chakra in the entire fight.
The Kiri jounins watched nervously. If they lost even this fight, then they would have lost all the fights against Konoha. It would be a huge blow to their reputation.
Inoichi announced, "The first semi-final starts now, BEGIN!"
As soon as he announced, Hoka rushed forward while making hand signs. Yumi retreated while making hand signs as well.
'Stone Shuriken jutsu'
The stone shurikens were blocked by the water wall. As soon as the stone shuriken jutsu ended, Yumi made a few more hand signs. The water wall transformed into water shurikens and rained at Hoka's position.
Hoka made a hand seal and slammed his hands on the ground. 'Rock Shield jutsu'
The Rock shield blocked all the water shurikens heading towards him. While the Rock shield was blocking, Hoka went underground to sneak attack Yumi.
However, with his Byakugan, he saw that Yumi was staring at his exact position underground. He frowned, 'I won't be able to sneak attack her if her eyes keep seeing my chakra!'
After a moment of hesitation, Hoka decided to attack. He made a few hand signs.
'Rock Thorn Bed jutsu'
Yumi, having seen him underground, was on guard. She quickly moved away.
Using Rock Thorn Launch jutsu would be pointless. So Hoka used more Rock Thorn bed jutsus. He used them 12 times consecutively. And even used Rock Thorn Launch jutsu once to block her retreat.
Seeing her dodging without being able to counterattack, Hoka smirked. 'Great, 2 more and she will be in range!'
Yumi, while dodging consistently thought, 'He is trying to get me closer to his position. He must be planning to use Hyuga Taijutsu on me.'
Hoka used Rock thorn bed jutsu once again, but Yumi dodged in a manner that he didn't predict. He frowned and used 3 more, and finally had Yumi where he wanted.
He grinned and came out of the underground. He was just a few meters from her!
'Eight Trigrams : Sixteen Palms'
At the same time, Yumi made a few quick hand signs. Hoka saw them but still proceeded. He released some chakra from his right palm thinking, 'I'll block her water jutsu with my right hand and keep attacking her.'
Unfortunately, his plans were made on the wrong assumption.
Having prepared her jutsu, Yumi blew out steam towards Hoka.
'Steam Release : Scalding Hot Steam!'
Hot steam appeared in front of Hoka and enveloped him. His right palm was protected by chakra. But the rest of his arm, and soon his body came in contact with very hot steam. His entire body was scalded! Even his eyes were hurt!
Hoka yelled in pain, causing him to stop his attack. However, he gritted his teeth and fought through the pain to move forward and attack her. However, he saw a kunai with an explosion tag heading towards him.
Yumi snorted internally and commented, 'We may be at war, but you are not the only ones with explosion tags!'
The steam release once again surprised the audience. Fujin and Mieko were surprised too. Fujin wondered, 'Steam release… Is she related to Mei somehow?'
He looked at Hoka and thought, 'Hoka will have it tough. With the Steam release, she can ensure that Hoka won't be able to fight in close range at all. And he can't sneak attack her thanks to her eyes. So it'll be a long-range ninjutsu fight, and ninjutsu isn't Hoka's strength despite the improvements.'
Hoka quickly moved sideways and barely escaped the explosion. However, the explosion tossed dust into his burned body, causing him even more pain.
As soon as he moved, Yumi appeared next to him and blew more hot steam on him. Hoka flickered backwards while making a hand sign. He slammed his hand on the ground.
All the Rock Thorns in the area get launched. Most are launched in the air, but a few get launched on Yumi. She quickly made hand signs, 'Water Armor jutsu'.
Water armor appeared around her, which blocked all the rock thorns heading towards her.
Hoka waited for the jutsu to end, and flickered behind her as soon as the last Rock thorn hit her armor. He placed a hand on her water armor and released chakra through his palm.
A hole appeared in the armor. He attempted to use gentle fist through that hole, but Yumi just abandoned the Water Armor and moved in the opposite direction.
Hoka followed her, but she once again blew hot steam on him.
Having expected it, he moved away. But the steam still burned him more.
Both finally moved away from each other observing their opponent.
Yumi stood still. Her breathing was slightly heavy but steady. She was entirely focused on Hoka, keeping an eye for any tricks he might pull.
Hoka, on the other hand, was breathing very heavily. His chakra was almost empty due to having used so many jutsus. He had mild burns all over his body, making movement increasingly difficult.
Fujin looked at Yumi, 'She's strong. I underestimated her. Luckily her steam release won't be effective against me.'
Ibiki commented, "Hoka fought well. Unfortunately, his opponent is doing well to keep him away."
Genma agreed, "His Rock Thorn trap was good. Forced his opponent who kept running away in close combat. If not for the Steam release, he could have won."
Raido stated, "His opponent is very good too. Be it the previous, or this battle. She is very calm and stable. She will be a reliable team leader."
Ibiki and Genma both agreed. Yumi's performance wasn't flashy like Mieko, Fujin, Hoka, Rentaro, or Shin, but it was very stable and level-headed.
Hoka thought, 'I have just one more chance. Then I won't have chakra even for Gentle fist!'
He flickered towards Yumi. Yumi responded by releasing steam in front of her. However, Hoka flickered to spot 5 meters in front of Yumi, instead of next to her. Instead of running at her, he made a few hand signs and slammed his hands on the ground.
As soon as Hoka slammed his hands on the ground, Yumi moved backwards. A few Stone spears appeared from the ground. However, she had already moved from the range.
Hoka used this time to flicker twice! He arrived right next to her, surprising Yumi! He gathered all his remaining chakra in his right hand and attacked her, planning to knock her out in one blow.
However, Yumi blocked his forearm, not allowing the attack to hit her. She followed it with a kick to Hoka's stomach, sending him flying back for a dozen meters.
Hoka rolled on the ground for a few meters and fell unconscious. The chakra exhaustion and burns meant that he couldn't stay conscious any longer.
Inoichi announced, "Winner of the First Semifinal is Sakai Yumi!"
Medics quickly came and took Hoka for treatment. The crowd cheered due to how intense this fight was. But the cheering was less as the winner wasn't from Konoha. There were also many sighing in the crowd, as they had bet on Hoka.
Yumi walked towards the waiting room while breathing slightly heavily, 'He was strong. I used up more than half my chakra in the fight! I won't be able to use my Steam release a lot in the finals. I hope Mieko and Fujin exhaust each other, otherwise, I'll be at a disadvantage.'