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First, the alpha rooster would never wait for an attack. The alpha rooster walks into a pen and expects respect. The submissive rooster is punished for not giving it. Us peaceful humans may not like the rules, but that is how the chicken brain is hard wired. Any alpha rooster that allows an attack is, by definition, not the alpha rooster. Once the submissive rooster has started an attack, he has announced his intention to become the alpha rooster. That is an act of disrespect would never be tolerated by an actual dominant rooster. Watch the way a non-abusive mature rooster treats a juvenile rooster in his flock, and how the juvenile rooster shows respect to the adult rooster. Watch what the dominant rooster does when the juvenile rooster fails to show respect. That is your goal, because that is what their brain responds to. Insisting on respect is not aggressive -- it is just the way their social system works.
Second, maybe some silly little boy without his heart in it might respond to a squirt of water and a firm NO, but clearly you haven't met up with a real rooster that truly wants to kill you. A truly aggressive rooster will say thanks for the cooling spritz and fly right through the water, and respond to the firm NO with a louder and more dominant crow, right in your face. The purpose of the towel is to physically prevent contact without pain or injury. You don't want him fearful of you or be injured. You want him to realize that there is no way he can win the fight because he can't get to you. That is not aggressive -- it is defensive, and instructive.