Respected mentor looking up, spies nest though it's camouflaged (6)

I believe the answer is:

sensei

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'it's camouflaged' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot judge whether this works.

'respected mentor looking up spies nest' is the wordplay.
'SENSEI' is hidden backwards in amongst the letters.
But, I'm not sure how this is indicated.

'though' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for sensei that I've seen is " Teacher".)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.

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