Fist the Size of a Sandbag!

Why did the Five Elders consider having Akainu succeed as Fleet Admiral when Aokiji, the widely favored alternative, was available?

Fifty percent of it was due to the professional black mark Ohara had left behind.

The other fifty percent lay in Aokiji's laziness.

He could not be bothered to play along with high society or scheme and jockey for power, leading the Five Elders to believe he could not handle the job of Fleet Admiral.

Sengoku spent every day either taking the blame or on his way to take the blame, but after carrying so many black pots for so many years, with enough charges piled on him to fill five cartloads of books, had the Five Elders ever considered replacing him?

Never!

Because he could be both white and black, perfectly fitting the requirements of a Fleet Admiral, a position that demanded telling people what they wanted to hear and ghosts what ghosts wanted to hear.

Therefore, even when he took the blame, the Five Elders would not deny his personal capabilities and continued to recognize him as the Fleet Admiral.

In fact, taking the blame at just the right time would instead increase the Five Elders' satisfaction with him.

Then... look at the Three Admirals. Which of them could do that?

Not a single one!

Among the current Three Admirals, Kizaru had an unclear, inexplicable connection with the Five Elders, so he could be set aside for now.

Akainu was extreme, and Aokiji was lazy. Both were paragons of justice.

But what the Five Elders needed was not a paragon of justice. They needed a Fleet Admiral who could take the blame, be black, and be white!

Neither of them could meet even that requirement.

One disdained doing it, unable to tolerate even a speck of sand in