Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio reach the first stage of the Hunter Exam, a seemingly endless forced run through a tunnel leading by the examiner named Satotz. They are befriended by Tonpa, a man taking the exam for the 35th time, and meet Killua, another entrant. In the end Tonpa betrays Leorio, as Gon and Kurapika go looking for them.

The next fight is between Hanzo and Gon. Although Gon tries his hardest to combat Hanzo, it is obvious he is no match for the ninja. Hanzo severely injures Gon and breaks his arm, but Gon will not admit defeat. Gon feels that if he is ever to find his father, he must pass the Hunter Exam now.

The group meets a butlers' apprentice while walking closer to their target. She has Killua's skateboard, and refuses to let them pass. Repeatedly Gon walks over a line she drew, and each time she sends him flying with her mace. Eventually, she explains that she is Canary, a servant of Killua. Canary tells her Killua gave the skateboard to her because they're friends, so she should let Killua's other friends pass. She lets them pass, but is immediately hit by an unknown projectile.

Gon, Killua and Leorio arrive at a place where Nobunaga and Machi pretend to be a couple sitting in a cafe, but they do not attack understanding that they are not strong enough. Leorio, who is unable to use Zetsu to hide his aura, returns home, but Gon and Killua try to follow them and are captured instead. Light Nostrade arrives, giving orders to Neon, Kurapika and others. Mafia hires several professional assassins, including Silva and Zeno from the Zoldyck family.

Zeno and Silva injure Chrollo, but do not finish him off because of the call from Illumi who manages to kill the mafia dons. Having no client, the professional assassins have no reason to fight and just leave. Fake bodies of Chrollo and all other Phantom Troupe members are found, calming the mafia community, and the auction takes place as planned. Kurapika calms down a bit and meets with Gon, Killua and Leorio. In the last seconds of the episode Hisoka sends a text message to Kurapika telling him the corpses are fake.