Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos, known in Japan as Ninja Ryuukenden II: Ankoku no Jashin Ken (忍者龍剣伝II 暗黒の邪神剣), is the sequel to the original NES game Ninja Gaiden and one of the hardest games for the console. It takes place a year after the first game, where Ashtar continues Jaquio's goal of taking over the world and kidnaps Irene Law to further his plans. Ryu Hayabusa must now find Irene and stop Ashtar before demons and darkness spread everywhere again.