I was reading some old chapters and it occured to me that Konohamaru is stronger than most people think but he is not as experienced as he needs to be for the kind of enemies he is facing. This looked to be the case against Koji and Ao.
You hit on a point that my post was originally about. Are the enemies in Boruto are scaled higher in order to make the next gen appear stronger by comparison? I also think they try to make the fights more realistic by showing their reaction to pain and keeping the situation deadly. I think this is all designed to make the new gen look stronger so in the end we can say that they defeated greater enemies therefore they were stronger. All that had me looking at Konohamaru like he's the guy stuck in between generations. He's not legendary status but he cant be considered a scrub either. Therefore he will continue to get the shaft because the generation he is leading are to face much tougher opponents. Its just like you said he could solo a path of Pain as a 10 year old in shippuden but cant stay upright for 10 seconds in the new generation.Strong enough to strategize and solo a path of pain, as a kid(Genin). Weak enough to become a jobber, as an adult(Jonin).
Had he continued his growth rate he'd easily be high Jonin/Kage level if not S rank. But, well what can you say... it's not his story, so he serves what purpose(Kodachi's shit writing) save Jobber? It's time we change his name to Jobberamaru.
We're in some agreement, but I don't agree with opponents(Ao or KK rasengan+toad summon as of now) being stronger than a path of pain. Jiraiya required SM to face the paths of pain. In the end he's getting shafted one way or another, the new gen facing opponents has no bearing on it. The new gen, at the moment, are fodder especially Borat compared to the previous gen counter parts. Its evident that he's turned into a scrub, he's pathetic as a sensei as well, especially when he let Borat convince him(TNJ + low grade writing) they will stay and fight Ao. He will never be anything but Jobberamaru. And anything he displays after that pathetic performance will clearly be seen as forced.You hit on a point that my post was originally about. Are the enemies in Boruto are scaled higher in order to make the next gen appear stronger by comparison? I also think they try to make the fights more realistic by showing their reaction to pain and keeping the situation deadly. I think this is all designed to make the new gen look stronger so in the end we can say that they defeated greater enemies therefore they were stronger. All that had me looking at Konohamaru like he's the guy stuck in between generations. He's not legendary status but he cant be considered a scrub either. Therefore he will continue to get the shaft because the generation he is leading are to face much tougher opponents. Its just like you said he could solo a path of Pain as a 10 year old in shippuden but cant stay upright for 10 seconds in the new generation.
Giving it an honest look Ao was probably kage level also. They had a 5 v 1 advantage and still needed a significant amount of setup and heroics to defeat him.You do have a point. Maybe he's stronger than Pain Arc Naruto for all we know. He couldn't use jutsu against Ao and Koji may be well beyond kage level.