The captain of the boat reveals that of the 16 teams competing in the Dark Tournament, 15 have already been chosen. Which means the final group will be chosen through a battle royale held on the boat itself. A large ring rises out of the boat, and the captain says each team must choose their strongest member, to compete in a battle royale. The last person standing will be the winner, and their team will enter the Dark Tournament. Kuwabara wants Yusuke to go, only to find he's asleep, and can't be woken up, due to the intensive special training he'd been on. As this is going on, Keiko and Shizuru corner Botan and get her to reveal where Yusuke and Kuwabara are. Keiko wants Botan to take her and Shizuru to the Dark Tournament.

Back on the boat, the masked fighter represents the Urameshi team, and promptly defeats all of his opponents by using the spirit shotgun technique. The Urameshi team wins the battle royale, but the remaining demons attack them. They are no match for the Urameshi team and are quickly slaughtered, but one tries to attack Yusuke. However Yusuke, in his sleep, defends himself, using a rapid punch technique whilst calling out to the hag that he can still keep going. When Kuwabara hears this, he wonders if the masked fighter is actually Genkai, but then he thinks this isn't the sort of thing Genkai would come all the way for.

The boat arrives at Kubikukuri Island. At the hotel, Sakyo and Toguro discuss what's going to happen next, and Sakyo states that the Urameshi team will be fighting against the Six Wandering Specters team tomorrow. The Urameshi team are taken to their hotel room, where two of the Six Wandering Specters team members -Rinku and Zeku -manage to sneak in. Rinku sizes them up, but thinks they're nothing special and could take them all down by himself. Zeru tells them to enjoy their last evening, as by tomorrow...

...they'll end up like that teacup. One of the teacups suddenly shatters. As Zeru and Rinku leave, Zeru wonders about Yusuke, who remained asleep through the whole thing, but Rinku just thinks Yusuke must be a moron. The next morning, at the battle arena, tournament announcer and referee Koto announces that the Dark Tournament will now commence!

Manga differences

-The Dark Tournament explanation opening seen in the anime wasn't in the manga.

-Some of the Urameshi team's dialogue about the boat having no food or looking dismal was not in the manga.

-In the manga, the boat already has the ring exposed before it leaves the dock, it simply raises upwards when the fights are about to begin. In the anime, the ring is hidden inside the boat, and part of the boat transforms to reveal it.

-The Spirit Realm scenes in this episode were not in the manga.

-The scene where Keiko and Shizuru corner Botan wasn't in the manga.

-The fight scene where the Urameshi team takes on the demons was expanded on in the anime, with a bit more action.

-Two demons go up to Yusuke in the manga, whilst there's only one in the anime.

-Kuwabara uses two spirit swords in the manga, but in the anime he only uses one.

-When Yusuke attacks, he opens his eyes in the manga, in the anime his eyes remain closed.

-Yusuke takes down two demons with one punch. In the anime, this was changed so he uses a rapid punch technique.

-In the manga, the fight is still going on when Kuwabara wonders if the masked fighter is Genkai. In the anime, the fight has ended when he thinks about it.

-The hotel doesn't have the "Kubikukuri Island" name on it in the manga like it does in the anime.

-In the manga, after the Urameshi team is shown to their rooms, we see that Botan, Keiko, Shizuru and Atsuko have arrived at the hotel, and start looking for Yusuke. The main difference here is that Atsuko is present with the group in the manga, but in the anime she won't be.

-Rinku has some dialogue in the manga where he explains to Kuwabara that you can have a sixth team member as a backup, in case another member dies, and they chose their order by playing rock, paper, scissors. This dialogue isn't in the anime.

Notes

-Koto is not named in this episode, but she will be in the next one.

-Koto's voice actress, Ai Orikasa, also voices Shizuru.