Best way to clean install a Late 2008 MacBook (13-inch, Unibody)?

Hey!

I've an antique late 2008 Unibody Macbook and I want to clean install the OS.

I have the original OSX disc that shipped wth it (Leopard/ 10.5.5) so can reinstall from the disc, then upgrade the OS all the way through to El Capitan, the last compatible OS with the machine. My question is whether I would be better off creating a USB flash installer for El Capitan and installing El Capitan directly, rather than going through the hassle of updating through all the different MacOS versions from Leopard?

Thanks for any help.

Richard