Board Thread:Episode Discussions/@comment-1181222-20170816102343/@comment-734582-20170818121852

Mr. Grave wrote: Also, stop pretending like OG Naruto and Naruto Shippuden were clear of plot bs, cis, pis, plot armor or wank. There was a lot of that going on especially in Shippuden. I think it's important to mention that the Konoha 12, other than their dedication, were not uniquely strong or even above average. Compare their powers to the other Genin in the chunin exams and i'd say they were pretty weak. It's clear that the modern generation focuses on average or above-average Ninja.

Boruto is similarly powered to part 1 Naruto, although he has traded Naruto's potential ceiling for a more evenly distributed level of power. IE, Naruto in extreme circumstances could overpower some of the top-level opponents, but otherwise was limited. Boruto is consistently above-average but lacks the 11th hour superpower Naruto does. Academy Boruto for instance would be almost instantly defeated by an Academy Neji. Sure Boruto's above average, but Neji for instance learned secret clan jutsu by himself, with no knowledge or guidance.

The other kids are not terribly more powerful: Shikamaru was lazy and could barely be bothered to fight, yet Shikadai is clearly motivated. Chouji was obsessed with food and his weight, yet Chouchou clearly trades her self-image for motivation (IE she's fine with being fat and trains repeatedly). Sarada is quite strong, but Sasuke already had more advanced Sharingan. Sure he forgot he had them, but when Sarada was at the academy Sasuke had already awakened his Sharingan.

rare talented shinobi like Haku or Neji (who, if taught proper, could've been godlike) show that the current generation has hardly hit the ceiling of potential, as Gaara had an entire village afraid of his power and could only be contained by the Kazekage. Compare this to the current Konoha generation and there isn't a single kid that can't be contained by Jonin.