One of the most anticipated fights in Hunter x Hunter has arguably always been Chrollo Lucilfer vs Hisoka Morrow, having been built up ever since the Yorknew City arc, which is one of the earliest arcs in the manga and spanned over chapters 64 to 119. The Yorknew City arc saw one of the main characters of the story, Kurapika Kurta, integrate into the mafia and face some members of the Troupe to avenge the Kurta clan that was massacred for their Scarlet Eyes, as doing this would take him closer to his goal of retrieving all of the stolen eyes of his clan.
At the end of the arc, fans saw a fight being set up between Hisoka and Chrollo, however, due to the latter not being able to use nen, this fight couldn't proceed. After the Yorknew City arc, the story eventually reached the Succession Contest arc, where the fight eventually took place. Starting with Chapter 351 of the manga, "Battle to the death," which is 243 chapters after the Yorknew City arc, this fight had been awaited for over 16 years among the fandom.
Hisoka Vs. Chrollo: As It Happens
The battle starts with the announcement of the two fighters: The leader of the Phantom Troupe, Chrollo Lucilfer, and the former #4 of the Spider and troublemaker, Hisoka Morrow. These two face each other in the Heaven's Arena, a place fans didn't get to see since the Heavens Arena arc. This fight started as Hisoka challenged Chrollo as a Floor Master for his position, which was really just an excuse for Hisoka to be able to fulfill his fantasy of beating Chrollo. After everything was done and dusted, the fight concluded with Hisoka's defeat by death and then resurrection.
Hisoka In The Fight
Hisoka Morrow is one of the show's most iconic and memorable characters, making his debut very early in the Hunter Exam arc. He is a Transmuter, meaning he can change the properties of his nen, and in his case, it's to a gum and rubber mixture. Hisoka possesses two main abilities: Bungee Gum, and Texture surprise. These abilities aren't specifically powerful on their own, but require both brawn and brains to use them to the fullest of their potential, which Hisoka does fantastically, as seen in this fight and its predecessors.
Hisoka was ranked 3rd among the Phantom Troupe members for raw strength, making him a terrifying physically powerful character, and added to that is his incredible agility. During the fight, Hisoka made use of his Bungee Gum the most, decapitating some of the people that Chrollo sent after him and attaching their heads to one of the threads that he used as a long-range weapon.
Chrollo In The Fight
Chrollo Lucilfer is the leader of the Phantom Troupe, or Spider, and specifically its #0. He is a Specialist, meaning his nen doesn't follow any specific rule with how it works. Compared to Hisoka, Chrollo possesses a lot of abilities at his disposal, all thanks to his Skill Hunter ability- a powerful nen skill that allows him to steal another nen user's ability if certain conditions are fulfilled under one hour. During his fight against Hisoka, fans also see a new nen ability developed by Chrollo called Bookmark. It allows him to use not one but two abilities from his Skill Hunter book by placing a bookmark on one of the used pages.
Other abilities Chrollo will use during this fight include skills like:
Sun and Moon: a stolen ability of an elder in Meteor City. The ability places a plus sign – with the sun hand, and a minus sign – with the moon hand. If the two signs touch, they explode. The power of said explosion depends on how long Chrollo takes to touch the marked zone. This ability grew in power after the Elder's death.
2 stolen skills from his Phantom Troupe members. Kortopi's ability to make copies, and Sharlnark's ability to control others.
Is Chrollo Really Stronger Than Hisoka
A lot of factors affected the outcome of this fight, most notably, Chrollo's preparation time before the said fight. Indeed, Hisoka spent some time chasing down Chrollo to force him into a fight after helping him acquire his nen once again. The time Chrollo gained was spent by him collecting the abilities he went on to use during the combat. This means if the fight was more spontaneous, Chrollo would've struggled more, or even lost.
It's impossible now to know for sure, but it would be fair to assume that at their core, Hisoka and Chrollo are very much equals, both being extremely powerful and tactical in nature. The main differences come with their attitudes towards the fight, where Hisoka is just there for the fun of it, with Chrollo always planning and looking ahead. The fight had a big impact on the overall story, setting in motion the involvement of the Spiders in the Succession Contest arc, as they are on the hunt for Hisoka.
Hisoka had supposedly died after his defeat, but his nen got stronger after his death, making his heart beat once again and reviving him. So, it's fair to assume that his death made him grow significantly in power. After his revival, he went on to immediately murder 2 of the Spiders, Kortopi, and Shalnark, who had lent their abilities to Chrollo, making the said abilities now inaccessible to the Spider leader. This fight has changed the current goals of both the Spiders and Hisoka himself, and now the readers are awaiting the new chapters to see how this situation evolves.