It's really hard comparing the young generation compared to the old in their youth...Remember, the vets when they were kids were born during a time of war while the young ones have faced war for short time( attack of the sound.sand nins). As mentioned in the previous posts.

But each generations have their own geniuses and the like. Kind of like Sarutobi from his generation...Orochimaru fom his...Kakashi...and perhaps Shikamaru, Neji, and Sasuke...but comparing the kids now with the adults is questionable in so manyways...