Originally posted by: Kenshiro
ok, this is how it goes (or how i think it goes, anyway).
There are three times when you have to consider his strenght.
1. chunun selection exam - non transformed
2. when fighting sasgay - transformed
3. Vs Kimi
At point 1 he is no more powerful than a strong genin/ weak chunin. because....
a) Sasuke beats him up (and he is only a genin)
b) he really wanted to fight neji (and he only fights strong people and neji is a genin)
c) it was a close fight between him and Rock (and rock is a genin)
At point 2, he is at least as strong as a jounin, and could probably take on a few. because....
a) remeber that it is not actually Gaara, but in fact a demon that is unleashed.
b) The Sound and Sand villages went to all of the trouble of making him go to the exam as part of the master plan to destroy konoha, and there would be no point if he was a pussy.
c) it is a very even fight between Shukaku and Gamabunta
d) All the top level summons (yes i know Shukaku isnt a summon, im talking about Gama) are about as strong as a Sannin (Manda doesnt take shit from Oro; Enma smacked about the 1st and 2nd hokages for a bit
e) It wasnt Naruto that beat Shukaku, it was Gama that fought him, Naruto only woke him up, and he need ed to use Kyubi to get out of the sand.
At point 3 he is probably as stong as a mid level Chunin. because...
a) he has visibly improved since we saw him last.
b) he is not as strong as Kimi (kimi broke through all of his defences)
c) there is not much to base this argument on.
EDIT to post below
Sorry, in point 2. I meant when he is fully transformed and fighting Naruto, not Sasgay