CHAPTER 534: CHAPTER 375: INSTANT HYPNOSIS

In Minamoto Tamako and Abe Rokuro’s anticipation, Arima Toshio would, like in the movies, pull out a coin from his pocket, hang it with a string, and swing it back and forth in front of Akimoto Masahiko... But in reality, Arima Toshio didn’t take out any props and instead started a conversation in a relaxed manner.

Akimoto Masahiko was happy to drag out the time, as the bet was limited to only three minutes. The two exchanged some trash talk about the bet, with Akimoto Masahiko dismissively stating ’only idiots get hypnotized.’

"Is that so?"

Arima Toshio looked around; the group was situated in the police station’s conference room, some standing, some seated. He looked at each person for a few seconds, then said with a grin, "By that logic, you’re the biggest idiot in this room."

"What did you say?" Akimoto Masahiko shouted with a clicking tongue.

Arima Toshio gestured for him to calm down and continued, "Excluding the two professionals present—myself and my assistant—the person most resistant to suggestion among the five of you here should be this slouching officer... I didn’t catch your name?"

Everyone’s attention turned to Fushimi Roku, who had just sat down to watch the show. He replied with a teasing tone, "Just call me ’the broke client who can’t get an appointment.’

The first time he went to Arima Toshio’s private clinic, he had reported his name to the other, but clearly, Arima Toshio hadn’t paid attention to it.

Arima Toshio spread his hands and turned back to introduce Fushimi Roku to the crowd, "You see, as I mentioned, Mr. Fushimi has a very aggressive nature and doesn’t care about others’ feelings. His thinking is rational and sharp; he is a self-centered man... People like Mr. Fushimi don’t open up to others easily and maintain a strong vigilance towards strangers."

It was obvious that Arima Toshio remembered Fushimi Roku’s name; he asked the question on purpose.

Hearing this, Abe Rokuro looked puzzled, while Minamoto Tamako and Watanabe Shun nodded in agreement.

Time was ticking away, and Akimoto Masahiko didn’t care what Arima Toshio was saying. He continuously glanced down at his watch, waiting for the three minutes to pass.

"Secondly, it’s Ms. Tamako," Arima Toshio pointed at the bewildered Minamoto Tamako.

Miyazaki Shizuka had briefed him in advance about the situation, so he knew Minamoto Tamako’s name.

Arima Toshio continued, "Ms. Tamako has a very strong desire to control. Just now, I noticed that Ms. Tamako kept pleading with Mr. Akimoto for leniency, which is essentially an external manifestation of a strong control desire—she felt that she should interrogate the suspect, so she asked Mr. Akimoto for help."

"Similarly, Ms. Tamako wants everyone around her to do what she wants; things Ms. Tamako disapproves of, she hopes to completely eliminate."

"People with such personalities tend to go to extremes, either having a firm and noble goal or completely indulging in the desire for power."

"Either way, they are not easy to suggest."

Upon hearing this, Fushimi Roku and Watanabe Shun nodded in deep agreement; Abe Rokuro misunderstood Minamoto Tamako even more, thinking she was of the latter case.

Without waiting for Arima Toshio to continue with examples, Watanabe Shun eagerly raised his hand and asked, "What about me? What about me? Where do I rank?"

He certainly didn’t want to be ranked behind Abe Rokuro, feeling as a senior, he naturally had the dignity of a senior.

"You’re fourth," Arima Toshio bluntly stated.

"Who’s third?" Watanabe Shun scratched his head.

Fushimi Roku and Minamoto Tamako looked at each other, surprised that Watanabe Shun could ask such a foolish question.

"It’s Mr. Abe," Arima Toshio said as he entered the police station; it was Abe Rokuro who was responsible for receiving him, and naturally, he knew the latter’s name.

"What?" Watanabe Shun shouted out the classic villain line, "Impossible!"

As nearly half the time passed, Arima Toshio was still in no rush. He patiently explained, "Whether one is susceptible to suggestions is unrelated to the strength of their will; even the strongest-willed person will be attracted to a black dot on a white page... The strength of one’s resistance to hypnosis depends on how strong their ’Superego’ is."

"You should know, a person’s personality is composed of the ’Id’, ’Ego’, and ’Superego’."

"The stronger a person’s ’Superego’, the weaker their ’Id’ naturally becomes."

"Coincidentally, the ’suggestion instructions’ of hypnosis mainly act on the ’Id’, controlling one’s emotions and instinctive reactions by guiding the subconscious."

"For example, like this..."

With that, Arima Toshio suddenly turned and looked at Akimoto Masahiko, asking, "How much time is left?"

Akimoto Masahiko had been watching the clock, his mind highly focused. When faced with Arima Toshio’s question, he subconsciously prepared to answer ’thirty seconds left,’ but unexpectedly, Arima Toshio suddenly reached out to interrupt him, asking, "Excuse me, can I see the watch?"

Akimoto Masahiko raised his hand, and Arima Toshio immediately grabbed his wrist, covering the watch face, preventing him from seeing the hands on the watch.

Akimoto Masahiko was stunned for a moment, not yet reacting, when Arima Toshio pinched his wrist’s pulse, saying with a somewhat familiar tone, "Take a deep breath; your heartbeat is a bit fast."

Akimoto Masahiko indeed took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Before he could inhale again, Arima Toshio suddenly covered his eyes with his hand and commanded, "Close your eyes!"

Arima Toshio’s palm blocked his eyes, and while the others couldn’t see Akimoto Masahiko’s reaction, they could sense a subtle shift in Akimoto Masahiko’s emotions.

In the next moment, Arima Toshio forcefully pulled Akimoto Masahiko’s wrist with his left hand, supporting Akimoto Masahiko’s upper body with his right, and bellowed: