Hello everyone!

I'd like to introduce everyone kind enough to stop by my first work I've posted on FanFiction, Manticore in Another World. This idea pretty much spawned from a shower thought that wouldn't leave my mind and after a while, I decided to write it out in full.

Essentially, if you didn't read the summary, this story is a crossover between the Witcher video game world and Naruto. I specify the video game version of Witcher, simply because it allows for more avenues to travel down.

For anyone who read the previous version of this story, the only changes I've made are to Shinji's age and grammatical fixes, otherwise the story is the exact same.

Anyway, I have taken plenty of your time already so read on and enjoy!

Atom52 3

Chapter 1

The west mire of the northern realms was known as a place that was at the constant bereavement of supernatural forces. Monster attacks were all too commonplace in a natural bog, home to all manner of creatures.

One particular cave housed a deeper secret than the rest however... Strange energy pulses could be seen radiating throughout the environment, which is what brought Gaston of Faroe, Manticore school witcher to investigate the strange happenings at his own volition.

He was not expecting to find the navigator of the wild hunt, Caranthir, to be behind this though. And with this sudden revelation, came a fight like no other for the well-aged witcher.

Gaston was at his limit and he knew it. One shot to the gut was all it took. "Fuckin Wild Hunt…Why are you even here?!" he half asked and yelled through wheezing breaths as his right hand crept up to cover his wound.

Caranthir's imposing form seemed to hover toward the mortally wounded witcher. He too was not without injury as his helmet was off, revealing a deep slash to his pale skin and an amused expression. Gaston had put up a great fight for the infamous elf. He found himself actually wanting to fight this man again, however something like that would cost more than what it was worth.

But still, a fight as stimulating as this one for Caranthir was almost non-existent. He watched as Gaston's strength had finally waned and he was now kneeling on the ground with the tip of his sword being used as a stabilizer.

He looked down on the man with almost a sense of pity, which caused him to utter the next phrase. "Tell me witcher… if I gave you a second shot at life, what would you do with it?"

Gaston's tilted head craned upward to show the ferocity hidden within his cat-like orange eyes. He took another heavy breath, "I would find you, and nothing would stop me from finally ending the Wild Hunt," he growled. He saw the elf's eyes almost shine a light blue color right then.

"Is that right?" Caranthir went silent for a moment and adorned a thinking face before coming back to reality. "I'm sorry my king, but I haven't had a fight like this in my entire life." An almost manic grin came to his face. "Very well witcher! I look forward to our meeting in the future." Gaston could only stare as Caranthir closed his eyes and began to chant in what he knew to be the elder language.

A sudden and strange feeling washed over him and in that moment, he could see his own body as if he was outside of it. He tried to look at his hand but all he could see was a blue light and nothing more. Suddenly, he started floating away at a high speed without being able to scream, at least vocally.

There was soon nothing but a black void all around him, but even that didn't last long as he was met with another bright white light.

The cool air touching his new flesh brought tears to the newborn's eyes as he unconsciously wailed at the pain.

'Over 70 years as a witcher and I've never shed a tear once!' the newborn babe tried, ultimately in vain, to see the vague, blurry shapes rushing about the bright room. There was a persistent beeping that only grew more intense and fast as time continued.

In mere moments, the rapid beeps ceased to silence and there was a deep cry of anguish mere feet away. Soon before the babe knew it, he was tightly wrapped in a blanket and placed in a bed separate from the cries of agony in the other room.

The babe didn't know how long he stared up at the ceiling, waiting for something to happen, but finally the door to the room opened. He could barely make out the conversation being had.

"He's in here sir," a kind but tired female voice told a man who only grunted in reply. Footsteps approached the bed the baby was sleeping in and for the first time in his new life, he could see clearly the man who he assumed to be his father.

A tall, tan skinned man stared down at him with cold, teal colored eyes. As if the man's icy stare wasn't enough.

"Did you two have a name in mind for him?" The same kind, female voice from before asked.

"Shinji. After her grandfather, she wanted to honor him." The man explained in an emotionless tone.

"Shinji," The woman uttered as if testing out the name for herself. "It's a good name."

"I suppose..." The man uttered almost to himself.

"He may be small… but he's a strong baby. Chakra network is bright and powerful and on top of that, he's very healthy!" The woman added to hopefully get a smile from the man who only continued to stare at the newly named Shinji.

'Shinji huh? I kind of like it.' His father saw the child almost smirk up at him and his icy cold glare turned into an almost cold fury.

Sensing the mood of the room, the woman would soon leave. Shinji's father continued to stare down at his son. His long black hair shadowed his eyes and he remained silent. "It's your fault… it's your fault she's gone."

'What'd he say? What's my fault? I literally just got here!' Shinji's father slowly picked him up and stared directly into his newborn's eyes. "My wife is dead because of you."

—-

Life for young Shinji was not peaceful. No, quite the opposite. Everyday was the same, wake up to hear the clattering bottles and barely catching a glimpse of his father leaving for the day.

The four year old sighed to himself, "Guess I have to make my own breakfast... again." As little Shinji hopped down from his crib and walked over to the kitchen, he grabbed a nearby crate to use as a step ladder to reach the shelves.

"Ramen, sardines, and beer…" the boy sighed to himself as he hopped back down and moved to the fridge. 'Four years in this world and already I hate it.' It didn't take long for Shinji to learn many things, the most prominent of which was the deep hatred his father held toward him. Upon his birth, Shinji's mother ended up dying, right there on the table. Ever since then, his father spiraled ever deeper into an alcohol-fueled depression. He almost felt sorry for the man.

Almost. He would've actually felt sorry if the man had any sense of fatherhood and at least fed him but his father was dead set on letting his son wither away, like he was trying to do to himself.

After sighing at seeing the desolate state of the fridge, he went to his fathers bedroom and started to dig around in his sock drawer.

"Where is it… where is it… There!" At last the boy found what he was searching for and pulled out a rolled up wad of cash. Taking a couple bills out and putting the rest back, he put on his sandals and made his way outside of the house.

Their house was a small, one story building made of stone and resembled a small stalagmite. As a matter of fact, almost the whole village they lived in resembled these same stone buildings. They lived closer to the outskirts of the village but not far enough away to feel disconnected from the rest of the village. The sight of the strange and new village always brightened the boy's mood a little.

However the rumbling in his stomach brought him right back to reality. Shinji did as he does most days when faced with this issue, which was to head straight to the market district.

'Ya know, if I looked at this place with squinted eyes, it would almost look like a shittier Novigrad.' The thought of his old world brought a sardonic smile to his face as he approached one stall in particular.

"Well well look who it is! Good morning young man, what can I get for you?" Asked the kind old man with familiarity in his voice.

"Hey old man!" Shinji replied as he was still too short to look past the counter. After picking out some fruit, Shinji made his way to a nearby bench to chow down on his breakfast.

'In all reality…it's not all bad. Most of the people are nice and the food is just…so much better. I mean seriously, how can an apple taste this good?' As the boy ate down to the core on two apples, he gathered the rest of his fruit and decided to explore the village.

Which is how he miraculously ended up at a weapons shop. 'One thing will remain in all worlds…my love of pointy and deadly objects!' Without another thought, he waddled right into Stoneheart Armaments to see the storefront manager arguing with a customer.

"I already told you! I'm not paying 1000 ryo for a single kunai!" The disgruntled customer ached and moaned toward the manager.

"And I told you, good luck finding anyone in the entire earth country willing to sell you a chakra metal kunai for less!-Hey kid What're you doing here?" The manager's attention was drawn to Shinji as he entered the store. It must've been pretty humorous to see a four year old enter a weapons shop from the amused smile on his face.

"I'm looking for a sword I can practice with. Got anything like that?" Shinji said with surprising clarity for a young kid.

The manager looked a little stunned at the boy before asking his next question with a shrug, "how much you got brat?"

Looking at the rest of his cash in his pocket, he noted he had roughly 50 ryo left of the 100 he took from his dads stash.

"What can I get for 50 ryo?" He asked with a less than happy expression. The manager took on a thinking pose before heading to a back room and coming back a couple minutes later.

"Alright so I got two choices for you kid." The manager grandiosely brought up each of his hands revealing a double edged sword in his right, and a smaller, more durable looking single bladed sword in his left. Both were made from wood and were presumably made to take one helluva beating.

"I'll take the one on the right." Shinji said with almost sparkles in his eyes. the manager chuckled at the expression on the young kid and handed over the dull blade.

Shinji handed over the money, bid farewell to the manager and customer and soon left. 'Jeez being a kid sucks! This thing can't weigh anymore than 20 pounds and it's taking everything I got just to hold the damn thing in my arms! Time to make the trek back home.'

As the boy dragged the sword by its handle to his home, he was completely unaware of the pair of eyes following him from atop one of the buildings he had passed. Shinji was three quarters of the way to his home when a figure appeared before him.

"That looks a little heavy there runt. Need some help?" Said the man wearing an all black getup with a porcelain mask. Shinji could almost hear the man's smirk on his face as he said this.

"I'm…fine…I don't need your help!" The red faced boy shouted indignantly as he dragged the sword right past the man. "Don't…treat me as…some weak brat!"

"Kid…you literally can't be any older than four." The masked man said with humor in his voice.

"I am four!" The man was now walking in tow with Shinji, just watching him lug this sword that was almost twice the kids size up a steep hill.

But the words said by the boy momentarily shocked the masked man. 'Pretty amusing watching this kid struggle like he is, but somethings off about him, I can't place it.' The masked man thought to himself as he continued walking with Shinji.

"What's your name runt?" The man suddenly asked as they approached a small building. The boy reached the doorstep, dropped the sword and his bag to the ground, and turned on his heel to face the masked man.

"I'm Shinji Sato. What about you?" The boy explained, face still red from exertion and sweat gleaming from his forehead.

"Just call me Oni, runt." The newly named man said with crossed arms as he looked down on the boy. However before their conversation could continue, they were joined by a third person as they appeared right next to Oni.

"Captain! I finally found you, we have a mission from the Tsuchikage." The new member appeared to be in a panicked state as he referred to his captain.

"Very well. See you around runt." The one called Oni offered a small wave before disappearing right alongside his compatriot.

"Well that was…odd. Cool masks though." Shinji turned to his purchased goods and made his way inside his house unknowingly making a far greater impression on the masked man called Oni than he had previously imagined.

'With that out of the way, it's high time I started training my body.' A devilish smirk came to Shinji's face as he recalled the forms that were drilled into him in his past life.

Over the course of the next two hours, Shinji would come to realize the limits of his four year old body as he lay sprawled out on the dirt, covered in sweat and panting heavily.

"I never remembered it being so difficult…". Shinji had tried his best to go through all of the forms of his sword style but with his muscles barely able to carry the wooden blade, the form training quickly turned into him just trying to gain the muscle to wield the blade.

As the boy caught his breath once again, he dragged himself up from the dirt and faced the wooden sword on the ground.

"I don't care how long it takes. I will become stronger, by any means." At that moment, Shinji recalled the words of his master from many moons ago.

'Remember Gaston, strength is one thing, but the key to winning any battle, is the knowledge on how to use your abilities to their greatest potential.' Shinji had a small smirk on his face when remembering the old Witcher who taught him.

"Heh. Even after reincarnation I can't escape your lessons old man Imad." Shinji picked up his sword once more and had a plan form within his mind.

'Within my four years I've learned a bit about this world. 1. Shinobi were the world's military. Instead of soldiers wearing suits of armor and carrying spears, you had men women and children being able to launch a boulder at you going Mach stupid. 2. There were five great villages within this continent with multiple smaller villages within each territory. Those territories are earth country, where I am currently residing, fire country, water, lightning and wind, and currently, three out of those five nations are currently embroiled in a war.'

Shinji gave another overhead strike to the imaginary target. His muscles already burned but he couldn't stop. 'If I want to learn as much as I can about this world, I just need to get through one obstacle.'

Shinji recalled the day he witnessed the graduation ceremony for the academy for shinobi. 'The Iwagakure Academy for Future Shinobi. That's where I have to go.' Another shaky swing made him lose his grip on the practice blade.

'Dammit!' Shinji looked toward the mid-day sun with a face of contempt. 'I promise you Caranthir. You will come to regret reincarnating me. I will stand atop this world with you at my feet begging for life.'

With that thought, Shinji picked up his blade once more and began his set.