1st of all, u r right that 1st was an uber ninja, and simply becos he was from first generation, some ppl dont give him his due credit, bcos "next generation is supposed to surpass the previous one". guess what, madara, the final villain, is from first generation!!!
now ppl say if 1st didnt have kekkai genkai and this and that, then blah blah blah. rubbish. without these abilities wud he be 1st hokage? without rinneagn wud pain be pain? whatabout itachi and sharingan? we shudnt seperate ppl's abilities when we judge them. it is the very abilty that made the man, the man.
anyway its not conclusive from this conversation that 4th is weaker than madara/masked guy(strange why he didnt mention the name 'madara'???). 4th never said i wud get defeated by him. madara saw thru everything means madara saw thru wht 4th was trying to do, whats his purpose.
if he was that strong why escaped when kuybi was sealed? this madara guy is so dependent on kuybi.