
Chapter 123 brings the Third Hokage's desperate struggle against his reanimated predecessors to its climax, as Sarutobi turns a forbidden sealing technique on the revived First and Second Hokage before setting his sights on Orochimaru himself.
The resurrected First and Second Hokage lunge at Sarutobi's duplicates, and although the clones are seized, they hold each reanimated leader in place. The Dead Demon Consuming Seal then claims the pair's souls, unravelling the jutsu binding them and restoring their awareness for a moment. Sarutobi offers a quiet apology before locking their spirits away. The act exposes the corpses of Kin Tsuchi and Zaku Abumi, the two genin spent as sacrifices to raise the former leaders. Furious at how carelessly Orochimaru discards other lives, Sarutobi moves to seal his former student the same way. Sensing the danger, Orochimaru recalls his Kusanagi blade, which Enma rushes to block.
The clones restrain both revived Hokage. The Dead Demon Consuming Seal takes their souls and briefly frees their minds. Sarutobi seals them, revealing that Kin and Zaku were the sacrifices used in the summoning. He then attempts to seal Orochimaru, who summons the Kusanagi back to himself as Enma intervenes.

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The chapter runs in Volume 14 within the Konoha Crush arc and was released in Japan in 2002. It marks a grim revelation about the human cost of Orochimaru's reanimation ritual.
The seal is the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, which the Third Hokage uses to claim the souls of the reanimated First and Second Hokage, briefly freeing their minds before locking their spirits away, and which he then tries to turn on Orochimaru.
Sarutobi apologizes because after the Dead Demon Consuming Seal briefly restores the reanimated Hokage's awareness, he must lock their spirits away for good.
Sealing the reanimated Hokage exposes the corpses of Kin Tsuchi and Zaku Abumi, the two genin sacrificed to summon the former leaders back.
Sensing the danger, Orochimaru recalls his Kusanagi blade to himself, but Enma rushes in to block it.
'The Final Seal' is Chapter 123, collected in Volume 14 of Naruto during the Konoha Crush arc.
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