Can Naruto characters perform the Dead Demon Consuming Seal without dying? Explained

A technique employed in some pivotal moments of Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto series, the Dead Demon Consuming Seal is a peculiar, last-resort fuinjutsu developed by the Uzumaki clan. It evokes the power of the Shinigami to seal the soul of a forceful target. In exchange for his service, however, the Shinigami takes the user’s soul as well.

Minato Namikaze used this technique to lock down the Yin half of the Nine Tails within himself, and then performed another fuinjutsu to seal the beast’s Yang half into his newborn son, Naruto Uzumaki. Before dying, Minato taught the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to Hiruzen Sarutobi, who used it to seal Hashirama and Tobirama Senju’s souls.

Hiruzen also tried to seal Orochimaru’s soul, but, due to his old age, lacked the energy to do so, and could only take away the latter’s arms. As performing the Dead Demon Consuming Seal claimed the lives of both the technique’s known users, there’s a debate about whether casting the jutsu through a Shadow Clone could bypass the need for the user to sacrifice his life or not.

The Shiki Fuujin is a suicidal technique in Naruto, but is there any way to use it without dying?

The functioning of the Dead Demon Consuming Seal

The Naruto world's Shinigami (Image via Studio Pierrot)

Called Fuinjutsu: Shiki Fuujin in the original Japanese version, the Dead Demon Consuming Seal is a forbidden technique of the Uzumaki clan. Kushina Uzumaki taught the jutsu to her husband, Minato Namikaze, who, in turn, passed the knowledge on to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

As the required hand seals are performed, the Shinigami appears. This spectral entity separates the user’s soul from the body and seizes it. At this point, only the jutsu’s caster can see the Shinigami, whose body slowly shows a cursed seal pattern.

The user then sends the Shinigami to capture the enemy’s soul. To do that, the Shinigami extends his arm, making it go through the user’s upper body, and stretch continuously until it eventually catches the soul of the target.

From the moment the Shinigami touches their soul, the targets will be able to see the spectre. Upon having their souls grabbed by the Shinigami, the targeted foes will be immobilized. Any jutsu they were using would be immediately dispelled, and they wouldn’t be able to cast new ones.

Hiruzen and Orochimaru's struggle as seen in the Naruto anime (Image via Studio Pierrot)

With the enemy unable to escape or counterattack, the Shinigami can forcibly remove and seal his or her soul. However, the process is not automatic, and might potentially be stopped, as how much of the target’s soul is to be locked down depends on the caster’s own chakra level.

Weakened by his old age, Hiruzen wasn’t able to remove the entirety of Orochimaru’s soul. As such, the elderly Third Hokage had to settle for merely impairing Orochimaru’s future combat effectiveness by sealing off the arms of his soul.

This left Orochimaru’s physical arms totally paralyzed, depriving the shinobi of the ability to perform hand seals, which in turn prevented him from using most of his ninjutsu techniques. Orochimaru’s arms eventually started experiencing necrosis, which forced him to seek Tsunade’s medical assistance and later prompted him to switch his body with a new one.

Orochimaru as seen in the Naruto anime (Image via Studio Pierrot)

Still, Orochimaru somehow survived, while Hiruzen was doomed to die from the very beginning. In fact, regardless of how much of the enemy’s soul gets sealed, the Shinigami will take the entirety of the user’s soul, causing the latter’s unavoidable death.

The caster's destiny is marked, and he will perish the moment the Shinigami finishes to eat his soul. The souls of both the user and his targets are permanently trapped within the Shinigami’s body. They won’t ever reach the Pure Land and will be forced to fight each other inside the spectre’s stomach for all eternity.

Orochimaru releasing the trapped souls as seen in Naruto Shippuden (Image via Studio Pierrot)

It must be noted that someone from the outside can potentially free the souls ensnared in the Shinigami’s belly. Upon wearing a certain special mask, an individual can evoke the Shinigami and link it with his body.

If the person donning the mask cuts open his stomach, the Shinigami will do the same with his own, thereby allowing the souls trapped inside to come out. Granted, the individual who initiated the ritual will risk dying due to the self-inflicted wound.

In the final part of the Naruto story, Orochimaru, following a request from Sasuke Uchiha, successfully performed this ceremonial to free the souls of Hashirama, Tobirama, Hiruzen, and Minato.

Using a Shadow Clone shouldn’t be enough to trick death

Minato performing the Shiki Fujin as seen in Naruto Shippuden (Image via Studio Pierrot)

When he performed the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, Hiruzen also employed a couple of Shadow Clones. This raises the debate regarding the possibility of initiating the jutsu through a Shadow Clone in order to prevent the user from sacrificing his own soul.

However, this seems hardly possible, as the summoning of the Shinigami inherently requires the caster’s soul to be immolated. In all likelihood, the evocation wouldn’t work if not performed by the user’s real body.

While Hiruzen used two Shadow Clones, they only helped him seal multiple targets, but that was only possible because the real Third Hokage initiated the jutsu by willingly offering his soul to the Shinigami.

In fact, looking closely at the manga panel, it’s evident that only the real Hiruzen performed the jutsu. This is made clear by the fact that the Shinigami appears right behind him, rather than behind the clones.

Hiruzen performing Shiki Fujin as seen in the Naruto anime (Image via Studio Pierrot)

Granted, events in fictional series might happen in ways that defy logic, but, if simply starting the technique through a Shadow Clone would be enough to avoid losing one’s life, Hiruzen and Minato would look ridiculous for not doing that. Considering their extraordinary talent, that appears unfeasible.

In all likelihood, a Shadow Clone wouldn’t have enough energy to handle the Shinigami seizing his soul and would thus fade away untimely, stopping the technique before it could be completed.

Besides, the alleged possibility to cheat death with the Shadow Clone method would make two highly impactful moments like Minato and Hiruzen’s respective sacrifices and subsequent demises devoid of any sense, completely ruining them.

Having the Shinigami reap the target’s soul without offering one’s own in exchange for having a Shadow Clone using the technique seems to be a cheap trick. It would go against the established narrative of the Dead Demon Consuming Seal being a suicidal attack to be used only in desperate situations.

Minato and Kushina's death as seen in the Naruto Shippuden anime (Image via Studio Pierrot)

It would be as if an Eighth Gate user avoided death by having a Shadow Clone open the Final Gate and use it in the real body’s place. Needless to say, such convenient ruses don’t reflect the values of selflessness and honor that permeate Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto masterpiece.

Those who want to summon the Shinigami and have it use its powers on their behalf, have to offer their own life in exchange, with no other way around.

If someone ever tried to deceive the Shinigami by using the Dead Demon Consuming Seal through a clone, in the best case scenario the jutsu would not work at all. Possibly, the Shinigami would punish the weak-willed shinobi by seizing his soul without harming the desired target at all.