I personally don't think it's Hiruzen, but you never know. I loved how "chill" Oro was in this chapter. No menacing, just, "Hey, I'm back... that's cool."
I know right... He was almost "Meh, whatevs!" I was expecting a wide mouthed "KUKUKUKUKUKUKUKU!" or something... Kishi nailed it.
To the peeps not to happy about the manner of his return. As happy as I am about Orochimaru's return... I can relate to you. It DOES seem like abit of a cheap plot
devise* but when you apply the logic given in the this and many other threads theorising methods of his return. It's not a terrible plot-hole (which is another reason why I loved this chapter).
It's funny tho'! This make me think of an OLD thread I made about the similarities between Harry Potter and Naruto. They're getting bigger and bigger.
Naruto = Harry
Itachi = Snape
Orochimaru = Voldermort
Jiraiya = Sirius
Minato & Kushina = Lily & James (Harry's parents)
Hiruzin = Gandalf... I mean Dumbledore.
etc!
What we need is a flashback. Too many dead people being revived already.
Hmm... good point. I DO want to see the events that took place at the Valley of the End with Madara (second fav villain) and Hashirama... but it's only a matter of time! xd
* this is not a spelling mistake. everyone else spells it wrong... hmph!