Dude, I think you meant to say that Itachi is stronger than Oro, not Itachi is stronger than Itachi.

There's a difference between forcing yourself to believe something and going out on a limb to believe the words "he is stronger than myself." Especially when Kishimoto doesn't back that up with any sequence of events.

Hmmmm.....maybe the use of hunter nins (especially since everyone claims how precious the last Uchiha is to the village) will allow us to move on to the development of Akatsuki. Then Sasuke escapes and trains with Oro, blah, blah, blah. The only thing that these episodes achieve is to show us the powers of the level 2 seal, which is either powerful or not. I can't tell by your contradictions.

Your explanation of kimi being on another level because of threats and almost death just means that Kimimaro is slightly better then the other four, remember the other four were'nt all that strong to begin with. He needs to be on a different level for Rock Lee, this will be his best match up since the Gara fight.

On a lighter note, I don't think that Kiba will end up finishing Sakon. Kiba is without Akamaru, he has lost a lot of blood, and he is low on chakra. I think Kiba will be saved by someone.