Marunomi struggled as hard as she could, but was unable to break free from Sakura. She could only watch as Tenten fiercely swung her club, connected with the Behemoth's Tongue, and shattered it into a hundred pieces. Marunomi was overcome with despair and anger as she witnessed the remnants of the relic fall to the ground. Her anger built into rage until she finally let loose in a violent burst of energy.
Marunomi cried out as she emitted a powerful wave of chakra from her body, finally breaking herself free of Sakura and sending both her and Tenten flying through the air. The chakra wave quickly, but there still remained Marunomi who was positively seething.
"You impudent brats!" she yelled. "You've ruined my plans! Just for that..."
She quickly turned to face Tenten.
"...I'm going to eat YOU now!" she cried, pointing at the girl.
"Wh...What?" Tenten said, quite scared.
Suddenly, Marunomi spit her tongue out of her mouth, which stretched out and extended much like a frog's. In an instant, her tongue coiled around the hapless Tenten and then pulled her into the air as it retracted. Marunomi opened her mouth impossibly wide, like a snake unhinging its jaw, and, a moment later, Tenten landed inside of it.
Sakura, meanwhile, having just recovered from the burst of chakra, looked up just in time to see the bizarre scene of Tenten's uppper body disappearing into Marunomi's gaping mouth.
"No! Tenten!" Sakura cried.
As Tenten came to grips with the fact that she was being eaten, she was overcome with fear and panic and struggled as hard as she could.
"No! Stop! Please!" she cried.
But her pleas were futile as Marunomi swallowed, sending her into her gullet. Furiously, Marunomi continued to gulp the young girl down, sending her down her throat and into her gullet as fast as she could. Soon, the last of Tenten passed through the rogue ninja's lips and she had been sealed inside Marunomi's stomach.
As the Leaf ninja filled her stomach, Marunomi's belly bulged out tremendously; far larger than the relatively small curve it had been after eating Temari. Marunomi was overcome with a sensation of fullness and, steadily, her temper began to subside. The feeling of having a meal and trapping another human inside herself was such a soothing and cathartic feeling that it almost made her forget that the Behemoth's Tongue had been destroyed. She placed her hands on each side of her engorged belly and stroked it tenderly.
"Ahh, much better," she said with a sigh.
Meanwhile, Sakura was left stunned in terror at the scene she had just witnessed. Her friend and comrade had been messily devoured like an animal and reduced to nothing but a bulge on the rogue ninja's stomach.
"T...Tenten," she uttered.
Turning her attention back to Sakura, Marunomi eyed her sadistically.
"Your friend really hit the spot," she said. "Just the thing I needed to quell my temper. That said, I am still miffed that you destroyed my precious Behemoth's Tongue. In fact, I'm still feeling quite ravenous. I think maybe I'll go ahead and end this now."
"You...you couldn't possibly eat both of us," Sakura said.
"Oh, you'd be surprised how much I can fit in here," Marunomi said, gripping her stomach. "Remember, my body is elastic. You'll fit in just fine. And then I'll track down your other two friends and eat them too."
Sakura didn't know what to do. She stood alone against a seemingly invincible opponent who had devoured her two comrades so quickly. To fight her alone seemed like suicide, but perhaps she could hold out long enough for Ino and Hinata to arrive. Retreat was also an option, but perhaps even escape from Marunomi was impossible.
*What does Sakura decide?
