Ischuru Yakimoto was one of the most skilled samurai warriors in Japan. But even his skill couldn't save him when he came upon the body of a prostitute in a wayside inn and, in a rage, dispatched her murderer-the Emperor's nephew. Such a crime was punishable by death, and almost at once, Yakimoto and the young orphan boy who was his companion became hunted criminals, relentlessly pursued by the Imperial Guard. Thus began Yakimoto's incredible adventure, as a and "ghost and " from a higher world took him under its protection, saved him time and again from certain capture, and began to teach him the secret ways of spiritual growth and non-violence. The and "ghost and " possessed magical powers, and Yakimoto vowed that one day he would have those same powers. But first he had to escape the Imperial Guard. And then he had to make his way across the sea to China, and through a forbidding countryside-the boy beside him-to a mysterious temple and an ancient master who himself possessed those same powers and who had counseled the and "ghost and " in its physical life on earth. It was only after years of meditation, and a final, terrifying confrontation with his most tenacious enemy, that Yakimoto learned the truth about the universe-and himself. A deft blend of action and adventure, mysticism and philosophy, The Drifter and the Samurai tells a provocative tale of one man's difficult journey from violence to enlightenment.