With Sakura's fist heading straight towards the Behemoth's Tongue, Marunomi knew she had to act fast. Thinking quickly, she thrust her free arm forwards, clenching her hand into a fist. Stretching out slightly, thanks to her elasticity jutsu, Marunomi's arm reached reached Sakura and her punch made contact with the young girl's face. Sakura's attack was negated and she fell sprawling on the forest ground beneath her.
Startled by the turn of events, Hinata stood motionless, still holding onto Marunomi's arm. In an instant, Marunomi channeled a stream of lightning jutsu through her right arm, shocking the Hyuga girl. Hinata let out a cry of pain. Her stance weakened, Marunomi yanked Hinata through the air and tossed her towards Sakura who was just getting back up. Before she could, Hinata made contact with Sakura, causing them both to fall back on the ground. Fairly quickly, the two managed to get back up and gazed at Marunomi who was inspecting the Behemoth's Tongue to be sure that it was okay. It was.
"Well, well, that was a close one," Marunomi said. "You Leaf ninjas are resourceful, I'll give you that."
Sakura and Hinata continued to stare helplessly at Marunomi, quite disheartened that their plan had failed.
"What now, Sakura?" Hinata asked.
Truthfully, Sakura didn't know. Marunomi would be wary of such a maneuver again and she clearly had the upper hand on them in terms. So she told Hinata the only thing she could think of.
"Let's just hold out as long as we can," Sakura said. "If we fight long enough, hopefully we'll find an opening." After an uncertain pause, Sakura added, "Use your Byakugan. Maybe she has a weakness we can exploit."
"R...Right," Hinata said, not particularly reassured.
Sakura and Hinata assumed defensive stances. Not wanting to rush things, they allowed Marunomi to make the first move. And so she did. Marunomi charged at Sakura, closing the distance between them in an instant. She swiped at Sakura with a lightning chakra-infused hand, which Sakura just barely dodged. Sakura hastily reacted with a series of punches, but Marunomi easily dodged or blocked all of them. Marunomi imbued her hand with lightning chakra once and this time jabbed Sakura right in the stomach. The Leaf ninja was racked with an indescribable pain as she hacked up blood.
"SAKURA!" Hinata cried as her comrade fell to the ground.
Wasting no time, Marunomi turned towards the Hyuga girl who had been using her Byakugan to scan her body. Marunomi smirked and rushed her. The rogue ninja overwhelmed Hinata with an onslaught of swipes and jabs that she was just barely able to dodge. All the while, Hinata tried to counterattack and analyze her chakra network amidst the chaos. However, her gentle fist attacks did nothing as it seemed that all of her chakra nodes were protected by some kind of internal barrier, just as the elasticity jutsu protected her outer body. The situation seemed hopeless, but, just then, Hinata noticed something; one little chakra node that looked like it was unprotected. Unfortunately, Hinata had no time to act on it as Marunomi delivered a powerful smack across her face. Hinata was nearly knocked, but managed to pick herself back up. However, she was only met with a series of punches and jabs to her abdomen, culminating in one final uppercut that sent her flying.
Sakura, on her knees, still reeling in pain, could only watch as her friend suffered Marunomi's brutal attacks. "Hi...Hinata..." she said.
Hinata collapsed on the ground, facing away from Marunomi, barely able to move. Marunomi smiled wickedly at the fallen kunoichi, admiring the results of her handiwork. Then, suddenly, the Behemoth's Tongue came to life again. She glanced at it and then glanced at Hinata. Wanting to finish things up quickly, Marunomi didn't even say anything. No words were necessary. It was simply time to feed. She pointed the device directly at the Hyuga girl and fired.
"Hinata!" Sakura managed to cry out.
However, her warning was fruitless. Hinata had just barely gotten back on her feet, trembling and still facing away from Marunomi. Any further effort to recover was in vain as the energy beam wrapped around her. She cried out, but was soon silenced as her body was reduced to a small ball of chakra. Her newly-converted body was pulled back towards Marunomi and landed right in the rogue ninja's open mouth. With one swift gulp, Hinata had been eaten.
Sakura stared in horror at Marunomi's engorged and bloated middle, which grew just a bit larger as Hinata filled it.
Marunomi caressed the sphere of her belly and gave it a firm pat, producing a hollow drumming sound. "Ahh, so much tasty chakra," she said. "And all from four small girls." She eyed Sakura and licked her lips. "And it looks like you're going to be number five."
Sakura's heart and mind race as she tried to think of what she could do.
*What happens next?
