His action of abandoning a title in the Imperial family and choosing to receive the title of Sukune, not a senior title Ason (second highest of the eight hereditary titles), is seemingly inscrutable, but this can be supposed as his way of getting along with the Fujiwara clan.
この王の位を捨て、わざわざ朝臣より下の宿禰のカバネを授かると言う一見不可思議な行為は、藤原氏に対する処世術では無いかと推測される。