my idea for bridging the gap in Ninja Gaiden canon

Ragebound seems to be set after Ninja Gaiden 3, with Jo Hayabusa alive but soon to be dead, Ryu in his modern attire, etc. But it is seemingly meant to connect the modern games to the classic ones, but the classic ones just don’t fit well with the timeline. So here is my fix, a remake of the original trilogy but updated sigma style and also merged into one streamlined game:

Ragebound serves as the prequel, handling Jô Hayabusa’s death and introducing supporting characters like Kenji Mozu and Kumori. It is followed by a single new game, tentatively called Ninja Gaiden: Legacy, set between Ninja Gaiden 3 and Ninja Gaiden 4. This game picks up with Ryu as the protagonist and merges the strongest level design, structure, and villain concepts from the classic NES trilogy into one cohesive campaign. The story and enemies (such as Jaquio, Bloody Malth, and Ashtar) keep their classic names and general roles but are recontextualized with stronger ties to modern canon elements like the fiends, Black Spider Clan remnants, and Dark Dragon influence. The game builds to a climactic on-screen battle against the Dark Dragon, providing the missing third defeat referenced in Ninja Gaiden 4 and positioning Ryu as the new clan leader heading into that game.

This new game would overwrite the classic NES trilogy in the canon while also merging them into it cleanly. The 3rd offscreen Dark Dragon fight NG4 talks about would be perfectly represented here and would allow this arc to segway into NG4 with the new status quo with Jo dead and Ryu as the new Ninja Clan head.