The mission is of three criminals stealing three artifacts from Spirit World. Meanwhile, in the Human World, Yusuke is awakened by Boton He returns to school that day, and when he tries to join a conversation between two students, they run away from him thinking he was a ghost. Keiko approaches him, sparking the memory of her kissing him. They walk to school together, and when their schoolmates see him they are shocked, as they had assumed he was dead. They all run away after he looks at them. Yusuke comments that maybe he should've stayed dead, but Kuwabara taps his back and tells him not to worry, because he's going to be a ghost soon after he defeats him. Principal Takenaka enters the scene and hits Yusuke at the back of his head, welcoming him back to school. This annoys Yusuke, making him think about skipping, but Keiko scolds him. From above, Mr. Iwamoto scowls seeing that Yusuke is back at school.
Yusuke is next seen skipping his gym class on the roof. He takes the Psychic Spyglass out of his pocket that he received from Botan the night before. After gym is over, students from Yusuke's class notice that their valuables are missing. Seeing Yusuke come back from his break, the students start to suspect and accuse him of stealing their valuables. Mr. Iwamoto is seen punishing Yusuke in the teacher's lounge, but Principal Takenaka intervenes, asking Mr. Iwamoto for evidence. Mr. Iwamoto stats that Yusuke was the only one skipping gym class when the items were stolen. He then makes a snide comment about Yusuke's mother, which enrages Yusuke who then attempts to punch Mr. Iwamoto. However, Koenma suddenly enters the scene and begins telling Yusuke about his first mission.
Three criminals have stolen the Artifacts of Darkness from King Enma's vault and have escaped into the Human World. Yusuke replies that he's busy and calls Mr. Iwamoto an offensive word, and stops after realizing he was standing right in front of him. Koenma reassures him that he doesn't see them nor hear them. Yusuke asks Koenma if he can just call him later, but Koenma insists that it's urgent because if the artifacts are used to their full potential, then the Human World would be in a state of chaos. Yusuke still stubbornly refused, saying that he will not go on the case unless he can solve his own. Koenma asks Yusuke to take out his Psychic Spyglass and to look at Mr. Iwamoto's left pocket. Yusuke does as he was told, and finds all the missing items in Mr. Iwamoto's pocket. Yusuke comes back to reality and confronts Mr. Iwamoto, pulling the dragon pen from Mr. Iwamoto's pocket. After seeing this, Principal Takenaka asks Mr. Iwamoto to explain why he had the stolen items. However, Mr. Iwamoto denies all of this, and states that Yusuke must have slipped the items into his pocket, and walks out of the room soon after. Koenma now tells Yusuke to go to work, but Yusuke tells him he'll do that after he gets his revenge. Koenma tells him of his new ability, the Spirit Gun. Yusuke aims his fingers towards Mr. Iwamoto and fires his Spirit Gun, knocking Mr. Iwamoto unconscious. Now having his revenge, Yusuke follows Koenma into the gym's storage room, where Koenma explains about the case and the stolen items. Yusuke accepts the mission as a sign of gratitude for being brought back to life.
Yusuke begins his search for the three criminals in the town, but is unsure of where to start looking. He lays down on a bench when he notices a large crowd gathering. He pushes his way through and sees a small child has fainted. Yusuke sees the kid rise into the air and follows it. The spirit leads him into an alley, but Yusuke loses sight of it. Looking around, he spots the criminal and used his Psychic Spyglass to check if this criminal has an artifact. He sees the Orb of Baast in the man's pocket. As he was about to confront him, thugs circle around Yusuke, asking him for money. He gets into a fight and beats them up. When he finishes however, he notices that the criminal has left.
Meanwhile, in the Spirit World, an ogre presents some information on the criminals to Koenma. The criminals' names are Kurama, Gouki, and Hiei. Little is known about Kurama and Hiei, as neither of them have a previous record, while Gouki does have a criminal background. Botan suddenly storms in into the room, complaining that Koenma is placing Yusuke's life in danger. Koenma replies that he had no choice, but Botan tells him that he must allow her to train Yusuke first. However, Koenma tells her that there is no time to train Yusuke, as they have only one week to get the artifacts back. In one week, King Enma will return from his vacation, and if he were to find out about the missing artifacts, he would go into a rage and could even sink an entire continent just trying to get them back. Scared about the possibility of a wrathful King Enma, Botan tells Koenma that she will try to help out as much as she can, then returns to the Human World.
While following the criminal, Yusuke arrives just outside of a forest. He sees a light emitting from the middle of the forest, prompting him to run in. Hiei is seen practicing with the Shadow Sword, and begins talking to Gouki about raising a demon army using the sword. Gouki says he likes the way he thinks. Hiei continues his conversation and says that on the night of the full moon, they will use all three artifacts to have complete control. However, Kurama emerges from the shadows, and states that he will be withdrawing from their alliance. Angry, Gouki demands that Kurama hand over his artifact, the Forlorn Hope, but Kurama refuses, saying he needs it to fulfill his own desires first. Gouki attempts to punch Kurama, but is interrupted by Yusuke walking towards the group. Hiei interrogates Yusuke, who introduces himself to everyone. Hiei insults Yusuke over his weak spirit energy. Kurama takes this time to leave, with Hiei soon following suit, leaving Gouki to deal with Yusuke.
The two began to exchange words, when Gouki pulls out the Orb of Baast, and sticks his fingers inside, pulling out the spirit of the child from earlier. He attempts to consume the soul, which angers Yusuke, who kicks him in the stomach, causing Gouki to spit the soul out. Yusuke then punches Gouki in the face, causing him to fall to the ground. Yusuke picks up the Orb of Baast, thinking he had an easy victory. However, Gouki appears behind him, and transforms into his demon form. He tries to slash Yusuke, then goes to uproot a tree and swings it against him. Yusuke then remembers about his new ability, the Spirit Gun, and attempts to use it, only to remember he used his limited shot at school. As Gouki approaches him, he nervously thinks about how he might die again.
The fight between Yusuke and Gouki continues. Yusuke was completely helpless against him without his Spirit Gun, and as Gouki was about to choke him to death, lights come out around the forest and a familiar voice can be heard. Thinking that the villagers are coming, Gouki escapes and leaves Yusuke alone, who fell unconscious from all the wounds. When he finally regained his consciousness, he finds himself in his room and his mother approaches him and asks if he's alright, then hits him hard in the head thinking that he got into a fight again, and starts to cry, worrying that he might get himself killed. Botan enters the room, and Yusuke learns from Atsuko that Botan is the one who saved him from his fight with Gouki, and brought him back to his house for treatment. Then Botan whispers to him that Koenma gave her a human form and that is the reason why she can be seen by other people so she can help Yusuke in his missions. Boton leaves the room and prepares some food he helps her make dinner and the two began a conversation about the mission. He asked her how she found him, and she introduced him to a new Spirit Detective Item, the Demon Compass, and told him that she used it to find Gouki. She also informed him that he only has one week to complete the mission. Watching from the Spirit World, Koenma began yelling at the screen telling Yusuke to hurry up and started thinking about the consequences if he wouldn't be able to retrieve the three artifacts in time. Back in the Human World, while Boton is eating, news about four children that had fallen comatose in a town not far away from their place aired on the television. Yusuke and Botan overhear the news, and he asks her how long is the digestion process of the souls in Gouki's stomach, and replies that maybe it takes a day. He prepares to leave, so she gave him another Spirit Detective Item, the Concentration Ring.
Gouki is seen playing with the Orb of Baast, and a kid returns it to him, but he took her soul afterwards. Yusuke calls him out, and Gouki transforms into his demon form again. Yusuke charges and lands a punch on his stomach, but it hurt him instead because his skin was rock hard. Gouki tries to hit him but misses, and Yusuke tries to pierce his skin with a giant stick, but fails to do so. Gouki uses this to his advantage and throws him into the ground while clinging onto the stick. Yusuke is getting desperate and thinks about using his Spirit Gun, but opts not to use it yet after thinking about it carefully. Gouki kicks him and stomps him, enjoying his screams of pain, until Botan throws something on his back, catching his attention. Botan runs for her life, then runs to Yusuke's side. Gouki grabs Yusuke first, opening his mouth as he prepares to devour him, but then Yusuke pokes a wooden stick into his mouth, leaving it open. Yusuke fires his Spirit Gun into Gouki's open mouth, defeats him, freeing all the children's souls and retrieving the Orb of Baast in the process.
On their way home, the Demon Compass suddenly reacts, indicating that there is a demon nearby. He encounters Kurama, and he told Yusuke that he doesn't have any intention of fighting and asked him a favor to give him three days and he would gladly return to him the Forlorn Hope. When they returned home, Botan treated his wounds and warns him about the incident earlier, but Yusuke tells her that something tells him he should trust Kurama. He recalls he had overheard Kurama announcing his withdrawal from the alliance, and he had seemed more saddened than anything else. Kurama is then seen from the opposite building, watching over them.
The next day, Botan leaves to see Koenma and asks for more information about the Forlorn Hope, and tells Yusuke to go to his meeting with Kurama and be careful. He meets Kurama in the hospital, and leads him to Room 501, where Shiori Minamino, Kurama's human mother, is confined. On their conversation, Yusuke heard her call him Shuichi which confused him, for all he knows his name is Kurama.
They are next seen on the hospital's rooftop, and Kurama begins to explain things to Yusuke. Shuichi is his human name, and his real name is Yoko. He tells him about his past, that he was a spirit fox, gaining demon powers over the hundreds of years that he lived, and in time he grew bored and spent his hours learning the art of breaking codes and seals, but fifteen years ago he made a mistake and was severely injured by his pursuer, and with the last energy he had, he escaped into the Human World and became the child of a human family, originally intending to recover his Spirit Energy, and planned that he would escape after ten years, but as he was about to escape his mother fell ill. That is also the same time when Gouki and Hiei appeared, and he remembered the powers of the Forlorn Hope. Then he told Yusuke to let him use the Forlorn Hope to save his human mother's life, then he would accept his punishment. Yusuke asks him why would a monster do that for a human, and Kurama replies that maybe he is guilty, and maybe he feels like he is one of those mother-devouring creatures because he caused her great pains and feels like he broke her spirit and maybe in someway he caused her disease. Yusuke asks him why is he telling him these things, and he replied that maybe he just needed someone to know and he could tell that Yusuke would trust him. Suddenly a nurse barges out from the door, alerting him about his mother's condition. His mother is already at the critical stage, and she is about to die that night.
The moon is at its full that night, and Kurama decided that he would use it already. Yusuke asks him if he knows what would it ask for in return, and Kurama affirms and reveals to him that it is life. Meanwhile, in the Spirit World, Botan also gets the same information and leaves to inform Yusuke. Kurama uses the Forlorn Hope, and it reflected an image of his mother, and Yusuke suddenly exclaimed telling him to hold on a second and there has got to be some other way to resolve the problem. The Forlorn Hope began doing its thing but then Yusuke interrupts and puts his hand on top of it, just like what Kurama was doing. He told the Forlorn Hope to take his life instead and Kurama told him that it doesn't make sense since it's his wish, but Yusuke replied that it also doesn't make sense saving his mother's life if she's going to spend the rest of her life mourning his death, remembering his own mother while she was mourning over his own death. A bolt of light strikes out from the Forlorn Hope as Botan is approaching their place, and both of them are seen face down onto the floor. Kurama gets up first, and runs away to see his mother, and Botan arrives to see Yusuke still face down onto the floor. Yusuke gets up, glad that he's still alive and realizes that if he would have died Boton would be the one to be sad, but on the better side of things, he managed to retrieve the Forlorn Hope. It spoke again and said that because of their good intentions it decided to grant the wish without anything in return it now directed itself at Yusuke and for your bravery I've doubled your powers as well as your physical abilities Kurama was welcomed with the good news that his mother's disease is gone. Now Yusuke have only one more artifact to go, and he celebrated with Botan, and watching from Spirit World is Koenma, annoyed with the fact that the two are celebrating not knowing that the last artifact is going to be ten times harder to get since Hiei is the one have it and he's no ordinary demon.
Learning about the defeat of his other two comrades, Hiei plans on stealing back the two artifacts from Yusuke. Hiei decides he will use it to conquer the human world using the final artifact, the Shadow Sword The next morning, Yusuke is seeing attending class once again, this time talking with Botan. Botan explains to Yusuke about the third artifact, and the demon who is in possession of it. However, the conversation is cut short when Keiko comes looking for Yusuke and sees Botan chatting with him. Botan goes over to greet her, however Yusuke smacks her over the head and reminds her that she doesn't belong in this world and that things will become complicated. Botan decides to run off, leaving Yusuke to explain things to Keiko. However, Keiko doesn't want to hear about it and walks away, with Yusuke following after her. From afar, Hiei watches everything from his Jagan eye. He is now confident he has a plan to take back the artifacts.
On her way home from school, Keiko is lost in thought about seeing Yusuke and Botan together. While walking, she passes by Hiei, who uses the Shadow Sword and knocks her out. Yusuke, who is still in school, gets notified by the Demon Compass that a demon is close by. He runs out and follows the direction of the compass, running into Botan along the way. Botan tells him that the enemy has Keiko held hostage, angering Yusuke. They both arrive at a warehouse, and once inside they are met by possessed people, all branding a red circle on their forehead. Hiei then appears in front of Yusuke and Botan, telling them he controls the people here with his Jagan. Two possessed men then hold up Keiko, who is still knocked out from earlier. Hiei demands that Yusuke hand over the two artifacts in exchange for Keiko's safety. Yusuke obliges, and hands over the Orb of Baast and the Forlorn Hope. However, Hiei double-crosses Yusuke, saying he is still in control of Keiko's life. Looking at Keiko, Yusuke and Botan see a slit appear on Keiko's forehead, slowly opening to reveal a red eye. Botan tries to suppress the eye from opening using her spiritual power. Yusuke prepared to fight Hiei and stop his control over Keiko.
Hiei explains that the antidote for the eye is in the sword he is carrying, and he dares Yusuke to try and get it if he can. Out of the blue, Yusuke flies high and smashes him in the jaw, and an unexpecting Hiei falls down. Now enraged, Hiei uses his hyperspeed to daze Yusuke, but he follows the demon's movements and lands another right hand on his jaw as he tries to attack. Now more furious than ever, Hiei transforms himself into his demonic form, as red demonic eyes began to pop out of his body and his complexion turns green. This shocks Yusuke, and then Hiei gets the upper hand when he traps him in some kind of spiritual binding. Now Hiei beats up Yusuke, and then as he was about to land the finishing blow with his sword, Kurama suddenly steps into the way and absorbs his attack. He also made an effort of blinding Hiei with his blood, giving Yusuke enough time to recover a little bit. Now stronger than before, he matches up with Hiei, landing every attack as he is getting hit by his opponent at the same time.
When Yusuke realizes he won't win this way, he runs away from Hiei. As Hiei follows, Yusuke turns back and unleashes his Spirit Gun on him, however Hiei's hyperspeed allowed him to evade the blast, and Yusuke loses his strength upon releasing the attack. Seeing he has finally "won" the battle, Hiei gets overconfident when all of a sudden the Spirit Gun returns to him and nails him from behind, knocking him unconscious. It turned out that the Forlorn Hope was there behind Hiei and the Spirit Gun attack reflected on it and hit an unsuspecting Hiei. Yusuke wins the battle, gives the antidote to Keiko, and recovers the three artifacts and his mission is finally complete.
As Yusuke Urameshi goes back to his lifestyle of attending class, Botan approaches him and tells him that the relics were sent back to the spirit world just in time for the arrival of King Enma. However, since the Orb of Baast was soiled, the Forlorn Hope shattered, and the Shadow Sword rusted, King Enma discovers what happened, but since the relics were recovered he decides to only give a minor punishment to Koenma, a spanking. Keiko suddenly appears giving Yusuke the scare of his life as the episode ends.