I know the nine tails is apart of naruto just as much as the sharringan is apart of sasuke. But lets be real the fox gives Naruto unlimited chakra. Would he still be the strongest in the Leaf village without it.
Simple, he would still be among the strongest shinobi, maybe not as OP as he is now BUT he would have some other important advantages.
People need to realize the following:
1.Without Kurama, Naruto still has huge chakra reserves (Uzumaki trait), he can still use sage mode since Kurama had absolutely nothing to do with that, and not only regular sage mode but perfect sage mode.
2.Without Kurama, Minato and Kushina would still be alive meaning Naruto obviously gets training and advice from very talented shinobi (especially Minato, considered a genius and extremely talented).He would be very knowledgeable in powerful sealing techs.
3.Naruto had to overcome so much and train a great deal to be able to use Kurama´s power like he does now, people tend to overlook that fact and act as if anyone could do it.To be able to tame and befriend 9 Tails is a huge feat, becoming a perfect Jink is not something that can be done by shinobi´s just like that....Very few have done it in Narutoverse´s history.