Wut ?
Gai is borderline retarded, i would not call him a tech genius in the slightest.
He's the very definition of a powerhouse, with the 8 Gates techniques and Taijutsu preference.
Itachi has the hax powers obviously, so he's out of this discussion aswell.
Shikamaru is the only actual tech genius you mentioned worth talking about.
Yes, he does not use any bullshit OP techniques.
But he would not last a second versus any real strong opponents.
He had trouble with Kakazu and Hidan, and they are fairly weak compared to the real powerhouses.
Also, they happen to be the good kind of opponent for Shikamaru.
If Deidara, Sasori, Orochimaru, Kisame or whatever faced him, i doubt Shikamaru would live very long.
His shadow binding is broken too easily by physically strong people.
He also has no defenses for genjutsu that are worth mentioning.
And he is not good at defending against fast long range attacks.
So yeah ... im afraid that this is very much true :
Well in the NV being a technical genius doesn't take you very far, it's a world based on sheer power.
The only hugely strong strategists and smart fighters also happen to have huge haxed powers that are easy to use (minato, tobirama, madara, kakashi etc.)
Chakra beast. Keeps you alive longer.
