I gotta admit I could see that Kakashi has gotten alot stronger. Before the jump, he always seemed to come off kinda lazy and just relying on what he already knew. Now he seems more focused (of course they're dealing w/ akatsuki) and with a new jutsu, you could tell he's trying harder. And a genius trying hard is much different from a normal person trying hard.

And seeing Kakashi and Gai fight together would be a potentially awesome fight cuz they know each other so well. I'm sure their teamwork would be topnotch.