Inside Marunomi's stomach, Tenten's body was practically compacted into a fetal position and, thus, her movements were very constricted. Pressed against her was the glowing chakra orb that used to be Ino. Despite her situation, Tenten struggled to get a hold of a kunai.
"Don't worry, Ino," she said. "I'll get us out of here."
As soon as she had a grip on the kunai, Tenten forced it against Marunomi's stomach walls, but it simply slid off. Tenten tried again and again, forcing it harder each time, but still she could not cut through. Just like Marunomi's skin, it was too rubbery and too solid to penetrate. Futilely, Tenten still continued to resist, but she quickly grew tired as the air was thin and humid. Soon, Tenten would slip into unconsciousness.
---
Marunomi pressed her hands against her belly as she felt the struggles of the leaf ninja within.
"Oh my, your friend is quite a squirmer," she said facetiously to Temari. "But no matter. She'll tire herself out soon. In the meantime, I think you and I can have bit of fun."
Temari considered her options. She still had a fair amount of chakra left, but she had little to no chance of defeating Marunomi on her own. The rogue ninja had proven to be practically invulnerable and she could think of no weapon or technique at her disposal that may damage her. Thus, she would have to simply hold off as long as she could, study Marunomi's movements, looking for any potential weakness, and hope that Sakura and Hinata would arrive soon.
Of course, the main thing she would have to be careful of was Marunomi's tongue. Though it seemed incredible, it was nevertheless very possible that Marunomi was still hungry and could fit another human being in her stomach. As Lady Sushi had said, her appetite truly seemed limitless.
Marunomi rushed towards Temari and commenced her attack. Sticking with her plan to reserve her chakra, Temari simply focused on dodging Marunomi's attacks and blocking with her fan. Intermittently, Temari would leap away from her to gain some distance, but Marunomi would almost immediately close the gap between. And it wasn't long before she became frustrated.
"Oh, c'mon. This isn't very fun!" Marunomi cried. "Fight back, why dontcha?"
Marunomi intensified her attacks, forcing Temari to increase her defenses in turn and occasionally use spurts of her wind jutsu to protect herself. Temari had that, with her large stomach, Marunomi's movements would become sluggish, but this was not the case. It was as if Tenten was barely weighing her down at all. Still, Temari managed to defend herself, while also putting up a decent fight. Unfortunately, it still wasn't enough to satisfy Marunomi.
"Come on! Come on! You can do better!" she cried.
Marunomi took a furious swipe at Temari, which managed to dodge just in time, retreating into a nearby tree.
"Alright," Marunomi said. "If you're not going to take this seriously, then maybe I'll just end this now!"
Marunomi spit out her tongue again, firing it straight towards Temari. Anticipating her attack, Temari leapt from the tree, making the tongue hit nothing but air. Marunomi retracted her tongue and fired it once again, but again Temari dodged. Temari continued to evade Marunomi's tongue lashes as they steadily became more rapid. Eventually, one lash was too quick for Temari to dodge, and so she had to block it with her fan. The tongue around her fan and, though Temari gripped it as hard as she could, Marunomi managed to pull it away from her. Marunomi arced her tongue and simply tossed Temari's fan to the side. The rogue ninja once again attacked Temari with a series of tongue lashes until she finally managed to snag it around the sand ninja's arm.
Realizing she had been caught, Temari resisted as hard as she could, but was no match for Marunomi's strength as the hungry ninja retracted her tongue and yanked Temari through the air. As Temari flew towards Maruonomi's mouth, which had opened incredibly wide, she knew she would be devoured if she didn't do something. Thinking quickly, Temari mustered as much chakra as she could and unleashed a powerful burst of wind jutsu just before she made contact with Marunomi. The wind created a barrier and caused Marunomi to become disoriented, making her lose her tongue's grip on Temari. Taking the opportunity, Temari leapt away once, but had to stop to catch her breath as the wind jutsu had taken a lot out of her. Marunomi herself quickly recovered from Temari's assault and stared at her with flee.
"Hoo! Now that's more like it!" she cried. "I knew there was some fight in you." Suddenly, Marunomi's stomach grumbled and she felt the familiar pangs of hunger. Marunomi smiled, laying a hand on her belly. "But my appetite has spoken. It's time to eat."
Bracing herself, Temari took a defensive stance, ready for Marunomi to fire her tongue. However, much to her surprise, Marunomi simply charged at her at an incredible speed. The rogue ninja closed the distance between them, brandished a concealed blade, and stabbed Temari in the abdomen.
Temari hadn't even known what had hit her as she felt the sharp burning pain in her stomach. Marunomi quickly removed the blade, allowing Temari's blood to pour out. Temari's head grew light and she fell to her knees, clutching her stomach. Marunomi looked down smugly and sadistically at the wounded ninja.
"Hmm, I don't normally like to draw blood from my prey," Marunomi said. "But I'll admit, it does add a certain flavor to it."
Marunomi slowly extended her tongue and allowed it to droop down towards Temari. Overcome with pain and fatigue, Temari could do nothing as the slimy appendage slowly coiled around around her neck, shoulders, and arms, binding her. Her prey secured, Marunomi retracted her tongue, pulling the bound Temari up along with it, bringing her at eye level. Marunomi glared at her gleefully and cruelly, tasting Temari's skin and the blood that seeped out her. The rogue ninja opened her mouth wide once again and pulled Temari towards her, ready to swallow her and fill her rumbling stomach.
Temari began to weep. Partly due to the pain in her abdomen. Partly due to the fact that she was about be devoured. And partly due to remorse for letting down her team, the Food Village, and Sand Village, and, most of all, herself.
