Existence is suffering. Siddhartha revealed this long ago, though he was certainly not the first to understand this sublime truth. How can anyone of understanding and sound mind doubt that this is so? How can anyone but a fool look about him and deny this? We are living in the waning days of the Fifth Age, and the Sixth Age inexorably creeps toward us. The spirit worlds, once so close, have been painfully sundered from the Middle Kingdom. More spirits fall to corruption every day, and those few that still attend their Heavenly duties cry out in pain and anger. Foreigners invade our lands, flouting our ancient ways and spreading unbalance. And the Wan Kuei fall ever further from Heaven's grace, pursuing transient power and ego gratification at the expense of enlightenment.
All this breeds pain, anger, and hatred. And among the weak, it breeds apathy and despair. Our joys and triumphs are fleeting... but pain, and the hate that is the result of that pain, are constants. They will always be there in some form or another. Every betrayal, unresolved debt, impropriety and defeat inflicted upon us breeds suffering. And everything that Kuei-jin do -- even the basic act of feeding -- harms on mortals and the world around us. And, unlike the ephemeral happiness which soon fades from thought and memory, angst accumulates and becomes ever stronger.
So how does a wise Devil respond to this? As valid as are the teachings of Siddhartha, they do not apply to us. Our lot is not the bliss of comfort, happiness or moderation. We Devil-Tigers seek not to avoid suffering, but to embrace, distribute, and ultimately master it. We must learn to control the negativity within us, to transform it from fodder for our Demons into a focused weapon. While the hatred would consume others' minds and souls, we that have been tempered by Yomi can channel the darkness within us. Just as spiritual malignancy is strength for the enlightened Devil, through intimation and discipline we can channel and find release for our emotional poison.
Hate, suffering, rage. It is our nature to always suffer these things, and to forever inflict them on others. Better we know those things, and to use and apply them properly, than to have them suborn and compromise us.
-- Shounetsujigoku Hitohana, founder of Hitoare

Thought by some to be a Demon Art akin to Black Wind, Hitoare is actually a martial art developed by the Devil-Tiger Shounetsujigoku Hitohana (the Burning Hell-Flower). It's a very unorthodox style in both approach and effect, and is known to relatively few Kuei-jin. Even most Devil-Tigers are content to learn more traditional martial arts. However, enough vampires practice and teach Hitohana's techniques to keep Hitoare alive.
As mentioned before, Hitoare is unlike any other martial art. While most such disciplines emphasize calmness and centering oneself, this one teaches just the opposite. The Hitoare practitioner must tap into the wellspring of negative emotion within himself, exponentially increasing his emotional turmoil so he may use it as a weapon. Training sessions involves torture, self-mortification, excruciating postures, emotional and psychological abuse, and countless hours of dwelling upon emotional anguish.
Seeing Hitoare in practice is frightening. Gone are the fluid movements and graceful katas of other martial arts. Hitoare attacks (and the art's few defenses) are quick, vicious and savage, and resemble frenzied brawling more than refined martial arts maneuvers. Practitioners commonly shake uncontrollably, sweat blood, scream, slaver, charge foes, and roar; if no one is immediately handy, they may even attack friends or direct their anger against themselves. Even more common is a bout of Fire Soul that immediately follows the use of Hitoare.
Practitioners: While this martial art is most widely practiced by Devil-Tigers (for obvious reasons), several Thrashing Dragons (notably of the Burning Embers sect) are fond of Hitoare. Resplendent Cranes regard the art as undignified and evil, while its strong associations with the Yang principle wins it few Bone Flower practitioners. A Roaring Golden Lion ascetic named Nine Flower Rain is known to be a master of Hitoare, though who taught her this martial art is unknown. No doubt, any Scorpion Eater or akuma with a propensity for violence that discovered Hitoare would find it much to his liking (assuming they could find someone so base as to teach it to them).
Though Hitoare is practiced almost exclusively by Kuei-jin, a few scattered ghosts have been taught the art as well. These wraiths are either allies of individual Kuei-jin, or rebels associated with the Earth Prison Smiting Fist sect of the Devil-Tigers. In any case, though a ghost may channel her P'o into Hitoare, the fear of Oblivion keeps most from pursuing the martial art with the abandon of their vampire allies. Nevertheless, a Yin Spirit with Hitoare is a formidable force in the Yellow Springs, and a true terror if she can manifest in the Middle Kingdom.

Failed Monsters Make no mistake, Hitoare requires an enormous amount of discipline, and not everyone who takes up the practice can withstand the emotional trauma or resultant spiritual damage. There are many Hitoare washouts, from Thrashing Dragon Running Monkeys to Devil-Tiger mandarins; one noted Devil-Tiger jina fell to chih mei status after unsuccessfully attempting to adopt the practices of Hitoare. None but the most petty and dictatorial Hitoare sensai questions the honor and dedication of those unable to learn this art. (Then again, many Wan Kuei, especially those that practice Hitoare, aren't the nicest of folks.)

●	Novice: Wind of anger; one technique.
●●	Practiced: Storm of rage; two techniques.
●●●	Competent: Cyclone of hatred; three techniques.
●●●●	Expert: Typhoon of pain; four techniques.
●●●●●	Master: Tsunami of Hell; five techniques.

Systems
Hitoare is a new Skill. It's treated like Martial Arts in most respects; use the same freebie point and experience point costs (3 per dot/ rating x 3), though characters can't start the game with this Ability. Like Martial Arts and other combat Abilities, Hitoare is added to the character's Dexterity die pools when attacking an opponent with that Skill. However, Hitoare practitioners have no ability to throw people (unless they also have skill in Martial Arts).
Demon Chi spent when employing Hitoare techniques is Demon Chi in its raw form, and counts against the amount of Demon Chi the vampire can spend that turn. A character must first unlock his Demon Chi for that scene (P'o roll against a difficulty of Hun +3), and he risks succumbing to Fire Soul if he rolls four or more successes. In addition, as a vampire must explore and focus his darkest urges to employ Hitoare, the Storyteller is free to call for checks to avoid Fire Soul and Shadow Nature when he feels it is appropriate (which should be at least once in any scene in which the martial art is employed).
Each dot in Hitoare grants the character one of the techniques, below. Similar conceptually (if not in principle) to Martial Arts combat maneuvers, Hitoare techniques are focused applications of the vampire's anger and pain. In addition, though a character may increase his rating in Hitoare as long as he's willing to spend the necessary experience, he can never learn more Hitoare techniques than his P'o rating; increases in P'o will grant retroactive techniques. So a character with a P'o of 3 can increase his Hitoare rating to 5 if he wants, but only has three techniques available to him. If he later increases his P'o rating, he learns a technique at each increase (as the principles behind the techniques he's been studying suddenly "click" as he gains more intimate knowledge of his Demon).
While a character can have (and practice) both Martial Arts and Hitoare, the two aren't compatible; someone advancing in Hitoare can't learn Martial Arts combat maneuvers, and those studying Martial Arts can't learn Hitoare techniques.

Hitoare Techniques
Hell's Unyielding Fortitude: Turning your anger inward, you strengthen your flesh and viscera against damage. Spend a point of Demon Chi and roll Stamina (difficulty 7); if this roll is successful, you may increase your character's soak pool by one die per success for that turn.
Pain Sink: By spending a point of Demon Chi, you may ignore damage penalties for a number of turns equal to your P'o or Hitoare, whichever trait is lower.
Poisoning the Spirit: By transferring your pent-up rage to the target, you unnerve her and damage her psyche. Spend a point of Demon Chi and roll to hit; if successful, you inflict normal damage and cause the victim to lose one point of Willpower.
Retribution: You may spend two points of Demon Chi to make an immediate counterattack against a foe that has just hit and damaged you. This attack takes place right after your opponent's, regardless of your initiative, and it doesn't count against your number of actions that round. You attack using your full Dexterity + Hitoare die pool, but your attack difficulty is reduced by 1.
Rupture: You may deliver an open-palm strike with such force as to channel the blow into the victim's body, tearing her internal organs and causing massive hemorrhaging. Undead opponents find their internal Chi stores disrupted, while such an attack is almost always fatal to mortals. Spend one point of Demon Chi and roll to hit. If successful, roll for punch damage as normal. If any punch damage gets through your victim's soak, however, don't apply the damage; instead, the victim suffers special damage, as follows. Kuei-jin lose one point of Chi per turn (first Yang, then Yin), Kindred lose one blood point per turn, and mortals and other living creatures lose health levels (treat this as lethal damage); this damage may not be soaked. This point/ health level loss occurs for a number of turns equal to your damage successes, starting on the turn the attack was delivered. The successful use of any ability or power that allows the victim to heal damage (Chi expenditure, natural regeneration, etc.) interrupts the effects of Rupture.
For example, a Hitoare master that scores four "damage" successes against a foe while employing Rupture causes her to lose four Chi: one point of Yang Chi on Turn One, one Yin on Turn Two, another Yang Chi the next turn, and finally a second Yin Chi on the fourth turn (this is assuming, of course, the vampire spends no Chi to interrupt the loss).
Stoke the Fires of Hell: You actually draw strength from your pain, channeling it into your Demon and increasing its reserves. While of great use in combat, some particularly masochistic Kuei-jin wound or mutilate themselves before battle (presenting a horrific spectacle for foes). When you suffer enough damage to take you to Hurt or below, roll P'o (difficulty 8). A success on this roll restores a number of Demon Chi equal to your current wound penalty (so a character taken to Wounded by an attack gains two Demon Chi). You may only Stoke the Fires of Hell once per scene.
Strike of Infinite Anger: Focusing all your rage and pain into a single strike, you inflict a potentially deadly wound on your foes. You must attack your opponent with a punch or kick, spend a point of Demon Chi and roll P'o (difficulty 7). Each success transforms one level of bashing damage into a level of lethal damage, up to your damage successes. (So if you score three successes while using this technique, and inflict a total of five dice of damage with a punch, you inflict three dice of lethal damage and two dice bashing). This damage is calculated before the target's soak. Strike of Infinite Anger can't be used with any attack using a die pool other than Hitoare (such as Brawl, Melee, Martial Arts or Firearms), when hitting with anything other than a punch or kick (or headbutt), or when used in conjunction with any attack that naturally inflicts lethal or aggravated damage.

Hitoare and Non-Cathayans Issues of unrestrained game crossover aside, learning Hitoare is either problematic or impossible for creatures other than Kuei-jin and ghosts. Since the P'o is so central to the understanding of the art, only those with P'o ratings (or a P'o analogue) can learn Hitoare, and only Kuei-jin can be truly adept at the art. Dhampir are the most likely Shen besides Cathayans and wraiths to learn Hitoare, though very few of them cultivate their Demons enough to make learning the martial art worth their while. Theoretically, a human with a P'o could learn Hitoare, but it's very unlikely that anyone would even consider teaching the art to such a immoral, Yomi-bound monster. Those Shen able to learn Hitoare at all (the list includes Kindred, Changing Breeds and fallen Elohim, and that's it) are given a P'o equivalent for purposes of learning Hitoare maneuvers (such as number of known maneuvers). If a character fails to meet the basic requirements, he can't learn the martial art at all (much less use its maneuvers). Someone who learns Hitoare but somehow falls below the requirements later (such as a Kin-jin that regains too much Humanity) loses access to Hitoare and all its benefits until the requirements are met again. More important than can a non-Cathayan learn Hitoare, Storytellers and players should ask why: why would someone teach him the art, and why would he want to learn it in the first place? First, Hitoare is a martial art developed by and for Kuei-jin, and is rarely practiced even among them; wraiths that learn Hitoare are true oddities. So, tendencies of power-gaming crossover playing groups aside, what would possess a proper Devil to even attempt to teach a Brujah antitribu, Devourer or Nezumi such a sacred martial art? And why would this someone want to learn Hitoare in the first place? The sheer amount of negative emotion cultivation involved in Hitoare would quickly send an incautious Kindred into Wassail, and launch most skin-changers straight into the maw of the Wyrm. Plus, taking into account point expenditures and the possibility of succumbing to raging fits, Hitoare doesn't offer any significant game advantages over Martial Arts, so players shouldn't be clamoring after it for that reason. And it's not like there aren't other nasty martial arts out there. Mui-Thay allows people to break others' bones; special forces soldiers learn how to kill people in a single blow. Certainly, someone determined to create a martial artist psychopath can do so without Hitoare. Wraiths: Requires a P'o of 4 or higher; Pathos = Demon Chi. The character gains one point of temporary Angst per use of a Hitoare technique. Kindred: The vampire can have a Humanity score no higher than 4, or a rating in any Path of Enlightenment; effective P'o of 1 (or 2, if non-Humanity Path of Enlightenment is 7 or higher); Willpower = Demon Chi. On any turn the character uses a Hitoare technique, she must make a Self-Control/Instinct roll (difficulty 6) roll to avoid Frenzy. Changing Breeds: The character must have a Rage of 4 or higher; effective P'o score = 1/3 Rage rating (rounded down); Rage = Demon Chi. (As werespiders and Nuwisha have no Rage, they can't learn Hitoare.) On any turn the character uses a Hitoare technique, he must make a Rage roll to avoid berserk frenzy. Fallen: The demon must have a Torment of 4 or higher; effective P'o score = 1/3 Torment (rounded down); Faith = Demon Chi. The demon gains one point of temporary Torment per use of a Hitoare technique.