Chapter Summaries

Leo received Goreinu’s warning that the Cleaners were using the people of Mistpine Town as test subjects and set out to help him. Layard had deliberately let Goreinu escape after throwing him from a cliff, and Goreinu survived to wait for Leo’s arrival.

• While hunting in Thousand-Needle Forest Valley, Leo reflected on how much stronger he needed to become before entering the Dark Continent.
• Goreinu called Leo, wounded, and reported that he had discovered Doctor’s trail and that Cleaners associates were experimenting on everyone in Mistpine Town.
• Leo ordered Sophia and Shizuku to stand by near Mistpine Town, then left camp at once.
• At the cliff, Layard told Ian and Killian that Goreinu was probably dead, and Ian ordered Zachary to search for him.
• Layard revealed that he had intentionally allowed Goreinu to escape so he could pass the information to Leo.
• Goreinu crawled out of the river with serious injuries and hid in a crevice, waiting for Leo to arrive.

Leo reached Mistpine Forest, rescued the injured Goreinu, and learned that the Doctor’s people were using a secret realm near Pinewood Lake to experiment on townspeople. After destroying Zachary’s ant swarm, Leo reunited with Sophia and Shizuku and set out to investigate the cave.

• Leo raced from Omask City to Mistpine Forest and found Goreinu hiding in a cliffside crack.
• Goreinu told Leo that a gold rumor had lured townspeople into a cave, where they disappeared, and that he had overheard three men mention the Doctor and an experimental subject in a secret realm.
• Zachary’s ant swarm attacked, and Leo annihilated it with a single Nen punch before taking Goreinu to safety.
• Zachary witnessed the swarm’s destruction through the ants and ran to warn Ian and the others about Leo.
• Sophia, Shizuku, and Nico joined Leo in the valley, and Nico took Goreinu away for treatment.
• Leo, Sophia, and Shizuku headed toward the cave near Pinewood Lake to investigate the secret realm and the Doctor’s experiments.

Zachary, Ian, Killian, and Layard entered the secret realm and planned to lure Leo into a confrontation near Test Subject Two. Leo entered with Sophia and Shizuku after checking for an ambush, while the four men hurried to the ruins to release Number Two.

• Zachary told Ian, Killian, and Layard that a man in white had destroyed his ant swarm with one punch, and Ian threatened Layard over the failure.
• Zachary proposed entering the secret realm to deal with the man, and Layard secretly decided to flee if danger arose.
• Inside the realm, red-insect-controlled residents killed a Rockhoof Beast and dragged its body toward the ruins as the four men arrived.
• Leo entered the secret realm alone, detected and destroyed Zachary's watchful ants, then returned to bring Sophia and Shizuku through the portal.
• Zachary realized Leo had found his ants, and Ian led the group toward the ruins to release Number Two.

Leo, Sophia, and Shizuku fought their way through red bug-controlled monsters toward the ruins, while Ian opened the cage holding the Bloodworm Demon Gorilla and ordered it to attack someone outside. As a vast swarm of black ants surrounded Leo and his companions, Leo gathered Nen into a golden fist and told Sophia and Shizuku to jump.

• Leo, Sophia, and Shizuku defeated a horde of red bug monsters, and Leo removed a bug from one survivor before it died.
• Ian, Killian, Zachary, and Layard opened the cage with a red crystal, releasing the Bloodworm Demon Gorilla.
• The Bloodworm Demon Gorilla drained the nearby corpses to grow larger, then attacked Ian until the crystal forced it to obey and head outside.
• Leo and his companions reached the ancient ruins and were surrounded by thousands of black ants.
• Leo gathered Nen into a blazing golden fist and told Sophia and Shizuku to jump.

Leo annihilated the ant swarms, killed the Bloodworm Demon Gorilla and three of Ian’s companions, then cornered Layard and demanded information about the Doctor. Layard remained silent and gave a bitter laugh.

• Leo destroyed the ant swarms with a single punch, raising his level from 67 to 68.
• Ian ordered the Bloodworm Demon Gorilla to attack, but Leo activated Final Moment and killed it with a kick to the red growth on its forehead.
• Ian, Killian, and Zachary fled in different directions, but Leo caught and killed each of them.
• Leo confronted the fleeing Layard and demanded everything he knew about the Doctor.
• Layard stayed silent for a long time, then laughed bitterly.

Leo let Sophia and Shizuku interrogate Layard in Sophia’s Duel Arena, where Shizuku repeatedly beat him until he agreed to talk. Layard then revealed the Doctor’s plans, the Cleaners’ structure, their experiments, and what had happened in the hidden realm.

• Leo allowed Sophia and Shizuku to use Sophia’s Duel Arena to force Layard to confess.
• Sophia sent Layard and Shizuku into the arena, where Shizuku defeated Layard in a Nen-free fight and claimed part of his aura.
• Sophia immediately brought them back into the arena, and Shizuku dislocated Layard’s jaw so he could not surrender before beating him again.
• After enduring the repeated beatings, Layard agreed to tell Leo everything.
• Layard described the Doctor’s plans, the Cleaners’ structure, their experiments, and the events in the hidden realm.

Layard revealed that the Doctor's biological-weapon experiments relied on the Styx Stone recovered from Estan Island and that someone inside the Hunter Association likely served her. After killing Layard and leaving the secret realm, Leo headed to Omask City to consult Mizai Istom about the suspected infiltrator.

• Layard told Leo and Sophia that the Doctor answered to an unknown superior, operated a secret island base, and was developing controllable Nen-using creatures.
• Layard revealed that the Doctor had sent him to recover the Styx Stone from Estan Island, and Leo realized it was the gemstone from Kote Kinnas's destroyed scepter.
• Layard described the Doctor and admitted he did not know who inside the Hunter Association worked for her, then asked Leo to kill him.
• Leo killed Layard, gained enough life energy to reach level 69, and ordered Shizuku to use Blinky to clean the secret realm.
• Leo sent Sophia and Shizuku away, then headed toward Omask City to discuss the suspected Hunter Association infiltrator with Mizai Istom.

Leo visited the injured Goreinu, then arranged to meet Mizai Istom at Hunter Association headquarters to discuss the Doctor’s backers, the Styx Stone, and a mole in the Association. He headed there by airship and planned to seek help from the Zoldyck Family if they could not identify the mole.

• Leo visited Goreinu in the hospital, confirmed the Doctor had been dealt with, and asked Nico to keep looking after him.
• Goreinu asked Nico to recount how he had met Leo and what had happened since.
• Leo booked a flight to Hunter Association headquarters and arranged to meet Mizai Istom there in two days.
• Leo called Vivian and asked her to gather a large space and many animals for him.
• On the airship, Leo considered the Doctor’s powerful backer, the recovered Styx Stone, and the mole in the Hunter Association, and thought Kalluto Zoldyck might help find the traitor.

Leo told Mizai Istom that Doctor’s operation involved Association insiders, powerful backers, and controllable biological weapons, and urged him to find the teleporting accomplice before Doctor escaped. Mizai Istom suspected Pariston’s connection to the disappearances of Hunters, while Leo prepared to pursue the matter regardless of the Chairman’s response.

• Leo met Mizai Istom at Hunter Association Headquarters and recounted Goreinu’s discovery, the Experiment Subject No. 2, and Layard’s testimony about Doctor.
• Leo explained that Doctor had an informant inside the Association, influential backers, a breakthrough using the Styx Stone, and a hidden island facility accessed by someone with teleportation abilities.
• Leo urged Mizai Istom to expose the Association’s informant before Doctor learned that her people had died and escaped again.
• Mizai Istom connected the leak to repeated failed investigations and raised his suspicion of Pariston, noting that fourteen Hunters had disappeared since Pariston became Vice Chairman.
• Mizai Istom went to report the matter to the Chairman, while Leo doubted Netero would care and resolved to keep pursuing Pariston.

After Netero put Mizai Istom in charge of investigating the Association mole, Leo pursued a separate lead by contacting the Zoldyck Family. The chapter ended with Mizai checking Association records, Illumi agreeing to notify Kote, and Leo waiting for news.

• Mizai Istom told Netero about the suspected mole and biological weapons research, and Netero gave him full responsibility for the investigation with Leo.
• Leo left the Association headquarters and decided to ask the Zoldyck Family to help find two people.
• Leo called Hisoka, who sent him Illumi's number after Leo demanded it.
• Leo contacted Illumi and commissioned the Zoldyck Family's Kote to find two people; Illumi agreed to notify him.
• Mizai headed to the records archive to investigate Association personnel while Leo waited for news from both sides.

Hisoka struggled to choose between pursuing Leo’s unpredictable affairs and fighting Gon, then let fate decide. Leo hired Kalluto to find two people and traveled to Kukuroo Mountain to visit the Zoldyck Family, leaving him on a sightseeing bus nearing their home.

• Hisoka debated whether to seek out Leo or keep his long-awaited fight with Gon, then flipped Machi’s Spider coin and tossed it out the window.
• Leo called Kalluto and hired him to find two people for eight billion Jenny, with half paid upfront.
• Kalluto first declined Leo’s offer to pick him up, then changed his mind and invited Leo to his house.
• Three days later, Leo arrived in the Dentora Region and boarded a sightseeing bus toward Kukuroo Mountain.
• The tour guide described the Zoldyck Family and their mountain stronghold as Leo watched the bus approach.

Leo arrived at the Zoldyck Family’s main entrance to meet Kote Zoldyck and was told he would have to open three Trial Gates to enter. He pushed open all seven gates and proceeded up the mountain toward the estate.

• Leo left the tour group and told Gotoh he had come to see Kote Zoldyck as agreed.
• Gotoh confirmed the appointment and relayed Kote’s condition that Leo open three gates or abandon the commission.
• Leo approached the Trial Gate despite Gotoh’s warning that three gates weighed sixteen tons.
• Leo used his strength and Nen to push open all seven gates, astonishing Gotoh and the tourists.
• Leo told Gotoh he was going in and walked up the mountain road toward the Zoldyck Family estate.

Leo entered Kukuroo Mountain and met Kalluto Zoldyck, who escorted him out after explaining that he had wanted to see the person who defeated Illumi. The chapter ended with Leo and Kalluto walking toward town as Silva kept Illumi from confronting Leo.

• Miken watched Leo on the mountain path but let him pass under the Zoldyck Family's rule for Trial Gate entrants.
• Kalluto met Leo and said he was satisfied to learn that Leo had badly injured Illumi.
• Milluki watched Leo and Kalluto on the surveillance screens and questioned Silva's decision to stop Illumi.
• Silva warned Illumi that Leo was stronger than before and that Illumi would die if he tried to kill him.
• Kalluto escorted Leo through the Trial Gate, and Leo waved goodbye to Gotoh as they left Kukuroo Mountain.
• Kalluto told Leo he had wanted to see for himself who could defeat Illumi, then called Leo not bad.

Leo brought Kalluto to the Hunter Association headquarters to help locate the mole hidden inside the Association, but Mizai Istom had found no suspicious records. Kalluto created a Nen-powered paper doll and explained how Leo could use it to search for the target.

• Leo transferred Kalluto the four-billion deposit and told him the target was a person inside the Hunter Association connected to someone called Doctor.
• Three days later, Leo and Kalluto arrived at the Hunter Association headquarters, where Kalluto explored the busy lobby.
• Leo brought Kalluto to Mizai Istom's office, and Mizai reported that the Association's records had revealed nothing suspicious.
• Leo introduced Kalluto as someone whose ability could help find the hidden person, and Kalluto folded a sheet of paper into a doll and infused it with Nen.
• Kalluto told Leo to hold the paper doll and channel into it the clues and requirements he had about the target, using half of his manifested Nen to activate it.

Leo used Kalluto’s paper doll to track down the mole in the Hunter Association, leading him and Mizai Istom to Brennan Ford’s office. Cornered by Leo, Brennan admitted that he had cooperated with Doctor, though he claimed he had not been her subordinate.

• Leo infused Kalluto’s paper doll with Nen Aura, and it led him, Kalluto, and Mizai Istom through the Association building.
• The paper doll stopped outside the Transportation and Access Management Registration Office on the fourth floor, where Mizai Istom recognized Brennan Ford as the suspected mole.
• Leo confronted Brennan and used his Nen pressure to force him to face the accusation.
• Brennan admitted that he had cooperated with Doctor but insisted that he had not been her subordinate.
• Mizai Istom challenged Brennan over Doctor’s deadly experiments, and Brennan replied that people could change.

Brennan confessed that he had betrayed the Association to secure medicine for his terminally ill daughter, Nina, and Leo stopped him from killing himself. After leaving Brennan in Mizai Istom’s custody, Leo departed to pursue the person who could teleport into Doctor’s base.

• Brennan explained that Doctor had cured Nina temporarily in exchange for Association information and that he had supplied travel plans and the Estan Island files and items.
• Brennan denied knowing of other agents in the Association and said Pariston might have noticed his operations were going too smoothly.
• When Mizai Istom ordered Brennan to surrender, Brennan tried to kill himself, but Leo crushed his hand and dislocated his jaw to stop him.
• Mizai Istom took Brennan to the interrogation room, while Kalluto watched Leo with interest.
• Leo told Mizai Istom to extract everything Brennan knew, then left to catch the person with the teleportation ability who could enter Doctor’s base.

Leo left Kalluto in the city for three days while he traveled to Toth City to gather life energy and grow stronger. Meanwhile, Doctor learned that her secret-realm plan had failed but persuaded her backers to fund its next stage, and Kalluto began exploring the city on his own.

• Leo asked Kalluto to wait three days in the city while his ability recovered, and Kalluto agreed.
• Leo booked a trip to Toth City, where Colton's gang had gathered creatures he could use to gain life energy.
• Doctor told her contact that Layard and the others had stopped reporting, then secured agreement to send more creatures for the next stage of her experiments.
• Kalluto decided to visit the local market for snacks and disappeared into the crowded streets.

Mizai Istom reported Brennan’s identity and actions to Netero, who left the response to him and Leo. Leo arrived in Toth City and was welcomed by Vivian Colton before Dean led him to inspect what he had arranged.

• Mizai Istom told Netero about Brennan’s identity, his partnership with the Doctor, and his actions for his daughter.
• Netero said Mizai Istom and Leo had full authority to handle the matter, then Mizai Istom left.
• Leo arrived at Toth City Airport and was escorted by a luxury convoy to Colton Manor.
• Vivian Colton greeted Leo and introduced Dean, her security team captain and a Nen user.
• Vivian left, and Dean led Leo toward another car to take him to inspect the arrangements.

Leo used a fenced plain containing 10,800 creatures to practice Emission Type Nen while harvesting life energy. After a day of killing animals, he reached Level 70, gained a dramatic increase in strength and senses, and continued hunting the remaining creatures.

• Dean showed Leo the 10,800 livestock and wild beasts gathered on a leased, cleared plain, then left with his convoy.
• Leo used En to check the area for hidden people and surveillance before entering the fenced grounds.
• Leo fired Nen bullets at the animals, improving his accuracy and efficiency as he harvested their life energy.
• After a day of hunting, Leo reached Level 70 and underwent a transformation that increased his size, strength, senses, and healing.
• Leo looked over the fewer than 6,000 remaining creatures and said he would continue for one more day.

After slaughtering thousands of creatures to raise his level, Leo returned to Toth City and agreed to help Vivian if the Colton Family faced a crisis. Kalluto’s paper figure then pointed Leo toward Pharos City, where Asher was already headed to gather creatures for the Doctor.

• Leo reached level 71 after killing the remaining Double-Horned Ox-Horses and called Dean to collect him.
• Leo told Dean to keep buying creatures, then agreed to Vivian’s request for future help in exchange for the Colton Family covering the costs.
• Asher discovered that farms and slaughterhouses in two cities had already been bought out, so he booked a flight to Pharos City to continue his assignment for the Doctor.
• Leo met Kalluto at Hunter Association headquarters and infused Kalluto’s paper figure with his accumulated clues about the Doctor and the teleportation ability.
• The paper figure pointed east, and Kalluto told Leo the person he sought was somewhere in the eastern part of the continent.
• Leo identified Pharos City as the likely destination and left with Kalluto for the airport.