Kakashi (who I might add is a labeled genius) said the next generation surpasses the previous one to Kakuzu.
Kishimoto seems to have abandoned that idea.
If that were the case, why is Kakashi not stronger than Jiraiya?
Why is it that random fodder Shinobi were getting raped by the third?
But no, I don't necessarily think the 3rd is the strongest Kage. His feat is pretty incredible. He wasn't stated to be as fast as A, and I actually think that A was faster than his father because he stated that he was the fastest since Minato passed away. Keyword-Minato. This does not mean that A is stronger than his father, just faster. He does not have the durability that his father has. Nor does he have the Hell Stab jutsu.
He also never sealed the Hachibi by himself, nor defeated him. They both collapsed with their jutsus in hand, and it was never stated that the Hachibi used the TBB on him. He just fell flat with the TBB along with the 3rd.
He may be EXTREMELY durable, but I doubt that the TBB would fail against him if he was caught dead in the blast. He also showed small signs of damage against Naruto's Rasenshuriken.
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And against Temari's wind jutsu. If you look closely, you can see cracks in his body.
He could be top three, but he's not the strongest. Not for what Hashirama is hyped up to be.