The 289th Hunter Exam's final phase is revealed as a counter-intelligence sieve, with Kurapika's Dowsing Chain reading every applicant for lies. Benjamin phones Tserriednich with their father's decision — whoever survives the expedition becomes king — and the princes' camps start counting which bodyguards passed. Then the trap inside the trap: Mizaistom stages an ability-sharing session for the Zodiacs, Kurapika watches through a hidden camera, and the chain names the traitor — Saiyu.
- InvestigationCanonicalDowsing Chain guards the Hunter Exam
The 289th exam's final phase is an interview about Beyond's expedition, with Kurapika behind the glass running his Dowsing Chain as a lie detector. Beyond's plants are weeded out — though Kurapika notes the chain would fail against anyone whose memory had been altered.
InvolvedKurapika · Mizaistom Nana · Cheadle YorkshireLocationHunter Association HQ▸Consequences (1)
- Spies are kept out of the Association's new intake — but not off the ship
- DecisionCanonicalNasubi's decree: the survivor becomes king
Benjamin phones Tserriednich mid-lion-wrestling with their father's decision: whoever survives the expedition becomes Kakin's next king. Tserriednich thanks God and promises his older brother the throne is his. Both princes' camps begin maneuvering their bodyguards around the Hunter Exam results.
▸Consequences (2)
- The succession war exists before anyone boards — as a royal decree
- Tserriednich's five guards pass the exam as Provisional Hunters; Luzurus's all fail
- DiscoveryCanonicalThe mole is Saiyu
Under cover of the Zodiacs' new ability-sharing session — staged by Mizaistom to 'strengthen cooperation' — Kurapika watches through a hidden camera with his Dowsing Chain. The traitor feeding Beyond's side is Saiyu, the Monkey.
InvolvedKurapika · Mizaistom Nana · SaiyuLocationHunter Association HQ▸Consequences (2)
- Two Zodiacs now share a secret the other nine would condemn
- Saiyu is left in place, unaware, as a monitored asset
- The succession contest: the prince who survives the voyage becomes Kakin's next king
- Kurapika screened the exam with Dowsing Chain — and knows its limit against altered memories
- Saiyu is Beyond's informant inside the Zodiacs
- Kurapika and Mizaistom resolve to watch Saiyu rather than expose him
- Benjamin's and Tyson's guards skipped the exam entirely — armies outside the Association's sieve
