I said the wrong term then. I didn't mean fool, in fact I meant failure.
I'm sorry, King, but I heavily disagree with this argument.
Naruto
was a failure. He literally did fail the graduation exam, numerous times, due to an average technique that most average students could easily pull off. He DID act like a buffoon most of the time, and he is kinda dense. All of Naruto's skill, intelligence, and merits were hidden from people for most of his childhood. Combine that with the people's inherent bias and hatred towards him, and it's no wonder they considered him a failure.
They were wrong, of course, but that's irrelevant. At the time, they had decent enough reason to consider him a failure. But whenever Naruto did show his surprising intelligence, creativity, and skill, he was almost always praised for it by others. Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke always praised Naruto in their own way. His genius was almost always recognized when he shows it, but the fact of the matter is that he didn't always show it, and he doesn't always show it, and it's part of his charm. He's the idiotic loser who defies the odd with his unpredictable, unorthodox, surprising level of intelligence and grit.
So yes, in context, people wrongfully labeling Naruto a failure doesn't take anything away from the people they've labeled geniuses.
In Naruto, they call people geniuses because they're exceptionally great/talented at something. They say either genius or failure. Half the people that are called geniuses are just noted for something important in the real world.
And how is that an issue, exactly? People are noted to be geniuses for being exceptional at something in the real world, too.
Michael Jordan was a genius in his field, Muhammad Ali was a genius in his field, and Albert Einstein was a genius in his field. That's just how that works. You're exceptional at a particular field, you're a genius.
And most "geniuses" in Naruto excel in many things. Look at Kakashi, Itachi, Minato, Hiruzen, Gaara, Neji, Orochimaru, and more. Sure, you could argue each one has a specific Shinobi skill that they specialize in (Itachi with genjutsu for example), but it's undeniable that all of these guys are FAR above average in most fields, and even excel in academic intelligence. Each one of these guys is a legitimate genius, for a variety of reasons.
So no, I have to disagree with you. I think the in-verse intelligence labeling is mostly accurate, and when it's wrong, there's usually context for why that's the case.
Half of their genius is brought up from being above others. Neji was reminded to be a genius because he beat Hinata in a fight. How is that genius.
That's just inaccurate lol....
Neji was noted to be a genius because he mastered the Gentle Fist and the Byakugan, including secret main branch techniques, at a very young age
without tutelage. Like.....c'mon, man.
His superiority complex wasn't the reason everyone considered him a genius, it was why he considered himself a genius at the time. This was, ironically, due to his underlying inferiority complex. But his actual skills were, in fact, above everyone in his clan.
But Neji was undoubtedly a genius in Taijutsu, and in general as well as we saw in his fight against Kidomaru. If not for his intelligence, he'd be dead.