User blog comment:FairyRaven/Fairy Tail Chapter 427: Pitched Underground Battle, Review and Commentary/@comment-25152698-20150406211400/@comment-26239138-20150407225200

No, i thought that Natsu is equal to Gajeel before the time-skip.. And Gray was stronger than Natsu after Tartarus arc. Gray was OP in Tartarus arc. After 1 year training, Natsu became stronger and is now equal to Gray.