Hitoshi Sato

Hitoshi Sato is a martial artist who made his first appearance in the Trial of the Aslanti Tomb. He spent a large portion of his life associated with The Red Crane as their most trusted hitman.

Early Life
Hitoshi was born in Tian's capital city. Both of his parents died while he was just a baby, and he was put into a local orphanage. He never knew the cause of the death of his parents and he was also too young to really remember who they were. Hitoshi lived in that little orphanage until the age of 7. Looking for young recruits with no family ties, Akuma Sato of The Red Crane saw potential in the young boy and adopted him.

Rising The Ranks of The Red Crane
In order to make the perfect warriors, Akuma put his students through intense, punishing training. Hitoshi's young age mattered not to Akuma, and trained him just the same. Hitoshi learned a lot quicker than any other student, so Akuma immediately took him under his own training. Making his first assassination at age 10, Hitoshi quickly rose through the ranks of brotherhood in the clan and eventually became a part of his adoptive father's inner circle. He eventually named Hitoshi to be the next in line to become leader of The Red Crane when he reached adulthood for humans (15 years old). Hitoshi devoted his life to his clan being the only family he has ever known, and with this devotion, The Red Crane began a resurgence of terror all over Tian. He became so skilled at his craft in killing with his bare hands that he gained the codename Shinigami, which means "death god".

The Murder of Genji Itami, and Fleeing Tian
During his time working with The Red Crane, Hitoshi had an illegitimate child with a healer named Asuka Itami after the two became close during crime-related visits to her father's teahouse. Their son, named Genji Itami, grew up without Hitoshi being there too often as his life with The Red Crane was a life of secrecy and dedication. He would send Asuka and Genji money, nevertheless, and he would still try to visit them as often as he could. As Genji grew older, he began to train as an Imperial guardsman, sacrilege to someone of Hitoshi's lifestyle and clan. He supported his son's ambitions, as he saw the sort of dedication that he saw in himself at his age. He did know, however, that their paths would eventually cross for the worst.

Years pass, and Genji soon is primed to become a leader of the Emperor's Imperial Guard, as Akuma began to devise an assassination scheme that would target all of the Emperor's most trusted allies, Genji being one of them. Akuma specifically assigns Hitoshi to his own son since he obviously would have intel on Genji being his biological son. He viewed this as an ultimate test of loyalty to his "real family". Hitoshi reluctantly accepts, and arranges to meet with Genji to do the deed in a secluded area. He cannot do it, and he reveals his affiliation with The Red Crane, showing him the crane insignia on his chest that all members receive. This enrages Genji, and the two get into an altercation resulting in Hitoshi accidentally causing him to fall and break his neck, killing him. Disgusted at what he realized he had been doing all of his life, Hitoshi flees Tian, leaving a letter of resignation to Akuma, and an apology to Asuka, vowing to make things right. He also arranged a secret way for her to flee Tian as well since Akuma would more than likely send his men after her.