Board Thread:Versus Debates/@comment-44916514-20200123204114/@comment-9782468-20200213200522

I already told you how the timing made sense the way I saw it.

When in the presence of Itachi's MS, the crow exits, and will cast Koto. Being a crow, it takes a longer build-up to cast than a person. So it builds up, but Itachi closes his eyes so it doesn't cast yet. Then Itachi opened his eyes again so it cast the jutsu.

That makes way more sense than having a two-part conditional system for no reason.