Out of his expectations, Shino's bugs actually found Kakashi, who was carefully concealed and watching the battle underwater!

Who knows where the Copy Ninja's copied his water stealth techniques from, but there was no denying that they were on a level beyond Shino's comprehension. If Shino didn't have his special insect monitors, he would have failed to find him with his naked eyes!

Staying so deeply hidden, it was clear that Kakashi was also biding his time, waiting for the perfect moment to make his move. Was this the opponent Itachi was truly wary of?

Observing Itachi's calculated movements, it was obvious that the Uchiha prodigy was intentionally holding back from delivering the final blow. His objective was probably to force out the sneaky fella.

And it worked.

With a flicker, Kakashi dashingly emerged onto the battlefield, Sharingan blazing as he readied himself to join the fight.

At that moment, Kisame suddenly began using ninjutsu - something he could have used all along to end the fight earlier...

Well, it became apparent that he might have been privy to the act all along. How else could he have picked such a timely moment to strike, only to have his jutsu expertly copied and nullified by Kakashi's Sharingan?

Now that Shino thought about it, he began to question the true loyalty of Kisame.

Was he truly a traitor to the Hidden Mist, simply a missing nin with the blood of his compatriots on his hands, or was he playing a more complex 'traitor' game like Itachi? Could this have been the real reason the two of them seemed to have an understanding with each other?

There are just so many details that aren't mentioned in the story, but in reality, these minor details may be very crucial links to the overall picture.

Shino adjusted his glasses as a grin appeared on his face. The real ninja world was more intriguing than he thought.

But regardless of his thoughts, the performance must go on.

Itachi persisted in his bid for the Best Actor award, skillfully persuading his companion to leave the fight to him.

Shino keenly observed the battle come to a halt as Itachi stood in place to speak, his way of discreetly divulging information, but only a skillfully measured amount...

Or was it a distraction?

In the blink of an eye, the battle erupted with explosive force, the two launching ninjutsus in perfect synchrony – causing a torrent of water to drill out from the river and collide with a towering wall of water!

Shino's keen eyes strained to catch every detail, but he found himself struggling to keep up as both Kakashi and Itachi moved with lightning speed! Shino's eyes narrowed further when he realized... he couldn't even see their hand signs!

It wasn't until the brief confrontation was over that Shino's replay led him to discover the minute details of the battle, such as the shurikens in Itachi's hand and the second Itachi that had calmly appeared behind Kakashi to stab him!

Naturally, Kakashi turned out to be a water clone. While others may have been caught off guard by this, even Shino's insects were able to detect the deception and Itachi was no exception. So, he had confidently stabbed his senpai with assurance and precision.

With Kakashi's water clone rejoining the flowing river, Shino's gaze turned towards Kurenai, who was clutching a kunai, seemingly handed to her by Kakashi.

But Shino's sharp senses kicked in, realizing that the supposed Kakashi was a mere fabrication, a decoy planted by none other than Itachi!

The kunai was nothing more than a clever ruse, meant to lure Kurenai into attacking Itachi's shadow clone!

Boom! Shino's eyes narrowed as he watched Itachi's shadow clone explode. He had no clue when Itachi had switched place with his clone and even set up a fake 'Kakashi'.

It seems that he will have to develop a way to distinguish shadow clones from the main body in the future, or he'll have trouble even against Naruto.

Shino then adjusted his glasses when he saw Asuma leap into the wall of exploding water. With Kakashi there, Kurenai would definitely be safe, but Asuma still had an anxious face.

Shino easily came up with a speculation. Asuma was anxious because he didn't want to let others play hero save the beauty with Kurenai!

And Kakashi… although he claims his only aspiration to be Icha Icha Paradise, the way he held Kurenai- tsk- tsk- no wonder Kurenai's face was so shocked in the anime. Her tofu had been eaten- Ahem.

Then, after fighting for so long, Itachi chose to give a grandiose warning – telling everyone that he was going to unleash his Sharingan, despite the fact that it would be more effective to directly use it...

So, a group of seasoned jonins closed their eyes like idiots, as if they had forgotten the lurking danger that was Kisame.

Kisame naturally… stood on the side and ate melon seeds. This guy... was definitely a paid supporting actor.

As for all the tensions and Kakashi's dialogue in the anime, Shino saw none of it. As soon as the other two jonins closed their eyes, Kakashi had already began to collapse to the ground.

Itachi seemingly left some leeway for Kakashi to tell the other two to close their eyes, but he didn't get paid enough to let Kakashi extend the runtime with extra dialogue. So, Itachi had long drew Kakashi into his Tsukuyomi.

The dialogue shown in the anime was probably Kakashi's imagination, unaware that he was already caught in a genjutsu.

Tsukuyomi – Itachi's powerful dojutsu that could draw the target into a time-dilated, genjutsu world under Itachi's control. Three days within the world is just a blink of an eye in reality, and all experience within would be ingrained in the victim's mind.

This Sharingan technique could inflict excruciating pain on the target for three whole days. Itachi honestly would play Pain's role perfectly because he could make truly make others feel the pain...

But other than pain, one must pay heed to the factor of time.

Three days was plenty of time for Itachi to extract all the secret information he desired… or secretly disclose all the intel he had acquired.

Such was the power of this dojutsu - a tool for spies to gather and distribute intelligence with just a single glance. Even if a certain filial son is observing from somewhere, he couldn't see the problem.

That reminds him-

With a deep furrow in his brow, Shino surveyed the battlefield. His bugs, mutated with all sorts of detection capabilities, scoured the area. But no matter how hard he tried, the hidden black hand behind the scenes remained elusive.

Like a shadow, it slipped through his grasp, seemingly taunting him with its sneaky presence.

"Although I couldn't find Zetsu, I'm sure one of them is nearby. Otherwise, Itachi wouldn't have to act out this show. It seems my detection abilities still aren't strong enough. To upgrade this... I may have to get my hands on some special bloodline limit in the future."

Disregarding Shino's own thoughts, the show outside neared its end with Kakashi being 'enlightened' out of nowhere and guessing Akatsuki's purpose completely.

Although it was revealed in the anime that Kakashi learned all of this from Jiraiya, the intriguing fact is that all of this revelation happened after Kakashi collapsed from his 'friendly' chat in Itachi's Tsukuyomi.

But there was no mention of Itachi's revelation in the anime, and naturally, there was no way for Shino to see any inkling of the truth in reality.

Setting his speculations aside, Shino set his focus back on the battle that had came to a standstill.

With Kakashi out of commission, the tension of the confrontation reached its peak once more.

Who will be the next spark of the conflict? Well...

Before, when the Jonins were left vulnerable, Kisame had stayed idle for a prolonged period of time. So, it seems Kisame realized he couldn't AFK any longer...

But just as Kisame finally decided to make his move, Might Guy coincidentally arrived on the scene just in time to put a stop to Kisame's plan, bringing the show to an unexpected end.

Observing this farce from the distance, Shino couldn't help but chuckle. He thought he could really get a gauge of these high-level ninjas, but were they truly going all out in this battle?

Perhaps Asuma and Kurenai may have unleashed their true capabilities. However, Kakashi, Itachi, Kisame, and Might Guy the pairs of powerful figures where Shino's true interest lies, probably kept their hands. Their true levels are still shrouded in mystery...

"What a disappointment. But, it isn't like there was completely no benefits..."

In the aftermath of the battle, when all seemed calm and the fighters had left, a drone silently and methodically went about its business. Its mission was a covert one - to collect blood samples from the battlefield.

There was a danger and risk of being discovered, but...

Fortunately, the drone completed its task with no interference, disappearing into the shadows as quickly as it had arrived.

Sarutobi and Kisame blood acquired!

"Hopefully, this sample can bring me some benefits once analyzed…"

Shino set his gaze on the village of Konoha, his keen eyes scanning the horizon where his bugs buzzed about, gathering information. It wasn't long before a message was received from his bugs: Jiraiya had finally left Konoha with Naruto to search for Tsunade.

Their journey would take around a month, and their return heralded a new Hokage.

"One month… I can wait. When she is born, everything will change..."

Shino's lips curled into a mysterious smile, his body collapsing into swarms of buzzing insects.