However, Fujimoto suffered a workplace injury when an arm was caught in machinery, and he quit within a matter of days. Fujimoto then dedicated his time to submitting work to periodicals, with Abiko assisting him on the weekends. Their first serial as Ashizuka Fujio was terminated in a few episodes, followed by success with the post-apocalyptic science fiction series Utopia: The Last World War (UTOPIA—最後の世界大戦, UTOPIA: Saigo no Sekai Taisen).