Orochimaru paused slightly when he heard the Third Hokage's words. Just as the kunai in his hand was about to pierce his hostage's neck, he felt something wrong and realized that the person he had seized had already been replaced by a clay dummy.
"Orochimaru, you shouldn't have come back. Today, I'll make up for the mistake I made before."
The voice came from behind Orochimaru. The Third Hokage, now dressed in combat gear, walked toward him. As Orochimaru turned to look, he pulled an enormous four-pointed shuriken from behind his back and hurled it at him.
"Ninja art-Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"
As the ninjutsu took effect, the enormous shuriken thrown by the Third Hokage instantly multiplied into more than a hundred, sweeping toward Orochimaru like a torrential storm.
Orochimaru was already thoroughly familiar with the Third Hokage's ninjutsu. Seeing the technique he used, he wore an utterly unconcerned expression, casually formed a hand seal, and pressed his hand against the ground.
"Summoning Technique-Triple Rashomon!"
With Orochimaru's summoning, an enormous gate rose from the ground to stand before him.
"Old man, it seems you already knew who I was. When did you see through my disguise?"
Blocking those enormous shuriken with Triple Rashomon was easy. Standing atop the gate, Orochimaru looked at the stern-faced Third Hokage a short distance away and asked casually.
Now that things had reached this point, the Konoha Crush could no longer be stopped, so Orochimaru was in no particular hurry.
Hearing Orochimaru's question, the Third Hokage said gravely:
"Orochimaru, give it up. The moment you arrived in Konoha, Tsunade and Shin Uchiha had already seen through your plan.
"Both Otogakure under your command and Sunagakure, which you colluded with, have been under our surveillance all along.
"Your so-called Konoha Crush is nothing but a joke."