well now that isnt necessarily true. While the clone that the starting clone made was probably weak and only used for the rasengan, it was explained wayyyyy back in the first series about his shadow clones. Naruto can divide his chakra up amongst the clones, so in reality he could put half his into another clone so its just as strong as him. I forget the battle but i remember that being explained in the first series as why he was able to fool the oponent because they couldnt sense which was real or a clone because they all had the same chakra level. And to the OP how is it a major plot hole? The shadow clone jutsu is a tech that naruto knows, therefore his clones know it because his shadow clone knowledge works both ways. train with clones= stronger naruto at the end, stronger naruto= better clones. So long as it had sufficient chakra it could feesebly do anything naruto himself can do. Also kishi isnt gonna just let everyone die out in the end as that would be even lamer than how its going in my opinion. Lastly, so what if naruto all of a sudden is kicking ass? Thats the typical formula for anime heros now. Underdog guy trains his ass off, gets better wins some loses some, trains even harder and unlocks some beastly potential and dominates. Plus you gotta remember just like most other anime heroes, as stupid as kishi writes naruto to be and act, when in battle he is a tactical genius.
