Gon Freecss runs into a Foxbear in the forest. A mysterious stranger named Kite saves Gon by killing the beast. This man tells him that his father Ging is alive. Gon decides to take the Hunter Exam and become a professional Hunter, but can only do this after catching the Master of the Swamp to convince his Aunt Mito to let him do it. Despite her feelings, after Gon catches it, Mito allows him to begin his adventure.

On the ship to the exam, Gon and Leorio meet Kurapika. The captain asks each for their reason to be a Hunter. Gon wants to find his father, Leorio wants to be rich, and Kurapika wants to be a force for justice.

Gon, Kurapika and Leorio continue on the test, arriving at a cabin in the woods. A husband and wife say they have been attacked by beasts, when a beast shows up and kidnaps the wife. Leorio stays to treat the husband's wounds as Gon and Kurapika help the wife. In the end it turns out the couple and the beasts are a family and they find the group worthy of continuing to the next test.

The group starts stage 2 of the test, which is to satisfy Gourmet Hunters Buhara and Menchi with their cooking. Everyone satisfies Buhara's taste for BBQ pork, but they all fail to make sushi good enough for Menchi. She says all examinees fail.

The objective of stage 3 is to get down from a tower alive. The group is forced to team up with Tonpa, and their test is to win 3 out of 5 matches against tower prisoners. Tonpa takes the first match with a hardened-looking criminal, and promptly gives up. He explains that he doesn't want to be a Hunter, he just likes watching others fail and be killed.

The hotel owners leave the examinees stranded on the island. A map is found indicating another island nearby, and part of the group sets out immediately to find it, dying when a storm hits. Hanzo and Kurapika sense danger and are elected leaders of the people who stay. They learn of a storm that comes in daily waves, the second of which will submerge the island, so they have one day to escape.

Several days pass as Gon recovers from being poisoned. Killua is stalked by Imori, one of Amori Brothers. Imori's brothers Umori and Amori show up, and Killua bests them and gets his number badge from Amori. All the protagonists now have their points except for Leorio, who goes looking for his target Ponzu. He finds her in a cave, but is poisoned by snakes. Gon and Kurapika go inside to help him.

Satotz explains to Gon that Killua failed the final stage. His opponent turns out to be his older brother Illumi in disguise. Illumi questions Killua and determines him unfit to be a normal person. He believes that Killua has a talent to be an assassin and tells him to return home. Illumi threatens to kill Gon if Killua even attempts to fight him, so Killua gives up and becomes silent for the rest of the exam. Killua murders Bodoro in the middle of his match with Leorio for no reason and is disqualified. Having heard this, Gon confronts Illumi and breaks his arm, deciding to go look for Killua.